This will be a running post dedicated to highlighting the most basic factual errors in Angels in Orange by Nachman Seltzer. The purpose is simple: to strip away the myths and manufactured stories so that readers can see the day for what it truly was. By documenting these inaccuracies in real time, I hope to provide a clear record that preserves the truth of October 7th and protects it from being distorted for agendas or fundraising appeals. On a podcast last year, Artscroll claimed it had already sold more than 15,000 copies of the book, which makes the spread of these fabrications all the more concerning.
We have reached out to both Rabbi Nachman Seltzer and Rabbi Gedaliah Zlotowitz and have yet to receive a response.
Claim:
“6:25 a.m. – First reports of rocket sirens in Israel” (p. 41, Angels in Orange).
Truth:
The first rocket barrages from Gaza on October 7, 2023, began at 6:29 a.m., not 6:25 a.m. According to official IDF Home Front Command alerts and multiple news reports, sirens first sounded in southern Israel (Sderot, Ashkelon, and Gaza envelope communities) at 6:29 a.m., followed by waves of incoming fire that continued for hours.
Claim:
“So it was that the volunteers of United Hatzalah treated thousands of people and saved their lives, driving many to hospitals and transporting others by helicopter, while the One above made sure they survived intact.” (Angels in Orange, p. 59).
Truth:
On October 7, the total number of people transported to hospitals across Israel by all means of evacuation—ambulances, helicopters, and private vehicles—was under 1,500. Of those, only a fraction were critically wounded, with Soroka Medical Center alone reporting about 120 critical cases in the first 16 hours. The official data makes clear that the book’s claim of “thousands” of lives saved that day is a dramatic exaggeration, far exceeding the actual number of patients who required evacuation and critical treatment.
Claim:
“What was interesting was that while Magen David Adom EMTs hadn’t been given permission by their higher ups to enter the more dangerous areas, because a number of their EMTs had been killed earlier that morning, many of the MDA staff stayed close to the United Hatzalah teams at the triage stations (which were somewhat removed from danger), moving closer to the front as we moved.” (Angels in Orange, p. 178).
Truth:
There is no evidence that Magen David Adom leadership instructed their personnel to stay back on October 7, 2023. MDA teams were fully mobilized and operating across the south under extremely dangerous conditions. Entry into active combat zones was determined by the IDF and Israel Police, not by MDA headquarters. Paramedics and EMTs made individual decisions on where they could operate safely in coordination with the security forces managing the scene. The suggestion that MDA’s leadership told its people to hold back is inaccurate.
Claim:
“Many of the responders from Magen David Adom complained to their bosses for not allowing them to take the ambulances to places like Kfar Aza the way United Hatzalah was doing. ‘United Hatzalah was saving people all day,’ they said. ‘Why didn’t you give us permission to do the same? You claimed that we weren’t allowed to do so due to safety reasons, but no one is safe right now. You should have let us go in to save lives!’” (Angels in Orange, p. 179).
Truth:
There is no record, transcript, or testimony to support these paraphrased quotes attributed to unnamed Magen David Adom responders. They read as dramatized inventions rather than factual reporting. In reality, MDA paramedics and EMTs were operating in active combat zones under IDF and police authority, not under restrictions imposed by their own leadership. Decisions about ambulance entry into Kfar Aza and Be’eri were made by security forces managing the battlefield, not by MDA “bosses.” The insinuation that MDA staff were sidelined and begging for permission, while United Hatzalah alone “was saving people all day,” is a distortion that demeans the real-time heroism of Israel’s national EMS teams.
Claim:
“Naomi Galeano, who lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh, will never be the same after Simchas Torah 2023… We were getting ready to leave to shul that Simchas Torah morning when the sirens started going off… It wasn’t long before I saw a text from the head of United Hatzalah in Beit Shemesh: Something terrible is happening down south. Will probably need medics to go and help.… At some point, the dispatcher instructed all the ambulances that were available to go to Kfar Aza. When Naomi’s ambulance arrived, and the village was still under control of terrorists, they found the village encircled by troops from various army commando divisions… The army still hadn’t been able to send any of their ambulances to the area, nor were Magen David Adom ambulances allowed to venture so close to Gaza, which meant that United Hatzalah had the only ambulance teams on the ground to take care of the wounded.” (Angels in Orange, pp. 251, 260).
Truth:
The timeline presented is impossible. Naomi is described as waking up in Ramat Beit Shemesh—more than an hour’s drive from the Gaza envelope—yet the book claims that her ambulance reached Kfar Aza before the army. In reality, the IDF entered Kfar Aza at approximately 8:30 a.m. on October 7, after prolonged firefights with terrorists. For a civilian EMT to mobilize from Beit Shemesh, coordinate with dispatch, and then arrive inside Kfar Aza ahead of the military presence is not credible. The assertion that United Hatzalah had “the only ambulances on the ground” while the army and MDA were absent is contradicted by documented timelines of IDF and MDA activity that morning.
Claim:
“The first few weeks of the war that broke out on October 7 took a major toll on United Hatzalah. Over 1,700 volunteers had spent significant amounts of time saving lives in Gaza and had seen the worst atrocities known to man. They had evacuated thousands of wounded Israelis under fire and provided the finest medical backup possible for the Israeli army.” (Angels in Orange, p. 287).
Truth:
The claim that United Hatzalah evacuated “thousands of wounded Israelis” in the first weeks after October 7 is not supported by official data. According to the Israeli Ministry of Health and hospital reports, the total number of people transported to hospitals on October 7 itself was under 1,500, and only a portion of those were in critical condition. Even in the subsequent weeks, the combined national caseload of wounded did not amount to “thousands” of patients evacuated under fire by United Hatzalah. Magen David Adom, as Israel’s national EMS, carried out the overwhelming majority of evacuations using its ambulances, MICUs, and helicopters. The book’s sweeping assertion inflates United Hatzalah’s role and misrepresents the actual medical evacuation figures.
Claim:
Angels in Orange presents President Joe Biden as delivering multiple direct quotes during his October 18, 2023 meeting with Eli Beer and United Hatzalah, including:
“I appreciate all the work you and your organization have been doing.” (p. 300)
“Eli, I grew up as a big believer in G-d… My father always told us that we needed to protect the Jews… the Chosen People… the pain that I feel now for Israel is like the pain I felt when I lost the members of my family…” (p. 302)
“Eli, what United Hatzalah did was so honorable… I am so proud of you!” (p. 302)
The book depicts Biden speaking at length about theology, Jewish chosenness, his personal tragedies, and offering direct praise for United Hatzalah.
Truth:
There is no evidence that President Biden ever said these words. The official video of his meeting with first responders and hostages’ families in Tel Aviv — including footage released by United Hatzalah on its own YouTube channel — contains none of these extended remarks. Biden did express solidarity with Israel publicly during his trip, but the highly specific lines attributed to him in the book do not appear in any verified transcript or recording. The book effectively invents dialogue, putting entire speeches into the president’s mouth that match neither the tone nor content of Biden’s documented comments that day. These passages should therefore be treated as fabricated quotations, not factual accounts. Beer did tell President Biden “I love you” although this quote is not included in the book. Why?
Claim:
“‘Yes, yes,’ Trump said, remembering the meeting and his donation. ‘I love Hatzalah…’” (Angels in Orange, p. 341).
Truth:
The book presents this as though Donald Trump was endorsing United Hatzalah of Israel. In reality, Trump is a lifelong New Yorker, and when he refers to “Hatzalah,” it is overwhelmingly likely that he means the well-known volunteer ambulance service in New York, which has operated for decades and is entirely independent from Eli Beer’s United Hatzalah in Israel. New York’s Hatzalah had no involvement with October 7 or the events described in the book. The conflation of Trump’s comment with an endorsement of United Hatzalah Israel is misleading and misappropriates the brand recognition of a completely separate organization.
Claim:
“The grandmother of the twins had been through so much tragedy. Her daughter and son-in-law had just been killed in Kfar Aza, and her husband had died in a fatal car accident not long before. United Hatzalah volunteers had responded to that accident and had treated her wounded husband. That’s how she had come to know Eli Beer.” (Angels in Orange, p. 322).
Truth:
Hadar Berdichevsky (Rosenfeld) and her husband Itay were indeed murdered in Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023, leaving behind their twin babies. However, her father, Mickey Berdichevsky, is alive and well. He has not died in a car accident, nor was he ever treated by United Hatzalah volunteers in such a context. This fabricated backstory is false and misleading.
