Most people don’t know that Unit 669, the combat search and rescue unit of the Israeli Air Force, doesn’t discriminate in who it treats, according to a spokesperson for American Friends of Unit 669.

A.S., the co-founder and president of AFU 669, discussed his experience serving in the unit in the late 1990s and early 2000s at the Bender Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington on Feb. 6. He requested anonymity for privacy reasons.

“We had a few times when we needed to come to meet a soldier who got injured during an attack from a Palestinian terrorist and they literally were lying down, stretcher next to the stretcher on the helicopter, and we were working on both of them to save their lives,” A.S. said at the event.

A decade ago, during the start of the Syrian Civil War, injured Syrian citizens came to the fence requesting medical attention “pretty much every single day,” A.S. said, adding that members of Unit 669 don’t choose their mission.

“We are the last call, and our goal is to save life, any life,” he said. “We don’t care if you are Jewish, Muslim or Christian. You’re a human being; we will help you.”

Forty percent of Unit 669’s work is civilian medical transports, A.S. said. He spoke to the importance of the unit’s rescue missions. Having saved about 2,500 people, these missions are made possible by Unit 669’s specialization, experience and updated technology: “Times are changing; we need to change with it,” A.S. said.

Gaza’s dense population has made it challenging to land a helicopter for a rescue mission, so Unit 669 now has an apparatus that scoops up injured soldiers or civilians from the ground to the helicopter and transports them to the hospital, A.S. said.

In the past, soldiers who lost their arms or legs often died on the battlefield; now, only seven percent of people injured die from their wounds thanks to the work of Unit 669, A.S. said at the event.

A.S. introduced First Sergeant Ran A., who served more than 200 days in the Israel-Hamas war. Ran shared his experience on Oct. 7, 2023, how he first heard about and got involved with Unit 669 and how his active-duty service impacted his life as a father of two young children.

He added that Unit 669 is the first elite team within the Israel Defense Forces to accept women; the unit has adjusted the training to accommodate members of both sexes.

“Having my daughter now, I’m happy to know that, if she would like, she will be able to do that,” Ran said of joining Unit 669.

Ran described his work as “diverse and versatile,” adding that he might spend one day conducting rescue missions in southern Israel, another in the north near the Syrian border and another day in the Gaza Strip.

“We know how to give a hand to anyone,” Ran said.

Unit 669’s No. 1 goal is to preserve life, A.S. told Washington Jewish Week after the event, which he said the unit can achieve on a larger scale with increased international awareness and fundraising.

“We are trying to have our story heard,” he said. “I think somebody [from the audience] asked about this, why more people don’t know about [Unit 669]. We want people to know what the unit does, how they save lives.”

Yossi Hermony, a Rockville resident who said he fought in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war in Golan Heights, attended the event.

“I think [Unit 669 does a] very important job to the army and to civilian[s] all over the world,” Hermony said in an interview with Washington Jewish Week. “Of course, they need more support [and] more equipment.”

Elijah Richardson, an Olney resident, said he attended the Feb. 6 event to learn more about Unit 669’s efforts on the ground. He said it’s important for representatives from Unit 669 to share their stories firsthand “so they can spread the message of what’s actually happening, how they are conducting the war, how Israel believes in conducting the war [and] what the day-to-day looks like.”

“No one knows they’re also saving non-Jews and that’s a PR problem Israel has,” Richardson said.

He added that events such as this one add perspective to the “violence and craziness” Americans often see on the news.

“Getting people out here and having them show all the good things they do … and physically seeing soldiers … makes it much more [human],” Richardson said. “There’s a human being who’s trying to do his best to just be a human being.”

zbell@midatlanticmedia.com