Red Cross admits Israel to organisation

The Red Cross admitted Israel to the worldwide humanitarian organisation on Thursday, ending decades of exclusion linked to the Jewish state’s refusal to accept the traditional cross symbol. The approval came early on Thursday, following a two-day International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

With a round of applause the Red Cross federation admitted Israel’s Magen David Adom society simultaneously with the Palestine Red Crescent. An optional new emblem was adopted so that Israel could retain its red star of David instead of having to adopt the Red Cross or Crescent used by the 184 other societies in the global movement.

‘‘This has been going on for 58 long years. It’s overdue,’’ said Bonnie McElveen Hunter, chairman of the American Red Cross, which had been campaigning for the Israeli society’s admission.

Israeli Ambassador Itzhak Levanon said the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent had earlier rejected a Muslim amendment that would have challenged Israel’s occupation of Arab territory since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. The vote was 72 votes for the amendment and 191 against, he said.

ALEXANDER G HIGGINS