Israel voted eligible to join Red Cross

geneva (jta) | Israel's emergency services agency was declared eligible at press time to join the International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement.

The Wednesday decision on Magen David Adom was expected to be finalized Thursday in a formal induction that would end 58 years of Israeli exclusion by Arab and Islamic groups.

The Geneva vote on Wednesday was 237-54, with 18 abstentions.

An agreement in December, which approved the use of a neutral red crystal symbol, paved the way for Israel's entry.

Arab and Muslim states had refused to admit Israel because of its Star of David logo.

"It's really a historic moment," Shai Franklin, World Jewish Congress director of international organizations, said from Geneva.

"It shows that when politics is removed from the process, the humanitarian cause is the same as ours."