International Committee of the Red Cross This meant that although Arab ambulances would be protected by the ICRC, Israeli ambulances would not. In May 2000, Bernadine Healy, the President of the American Red Cross, wrote: "The international committee's feared proliferation of symbols is a pitiful fig leaf, used for decades as the reason for excluding the Magen David Adom – the Shield (or Star) of David." In protest over the ICRC's perceived anti-Israel discrimination, the ARC withdrew its financial support. In 2005, at a meeting of nations party to the Geneva convention, the ICRC adopted the new Red Crystal. Magen David Adom then centered the Star
International Committee of the Red Cross affected by armed conflicts and other sources of violence. In 2013 the ten largest operations worldwide are Pakistan, Mali/Niger, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Colombia, Israel, Somalia, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan. In 2011, with support from the Red Cross Society of the DRC, the ICRC returned to their families in the RDC 838 unaccompanied children including over 390 former child soldiers, 34 of whom had been in neighboring countries. By virtue of its age and its special position under international humanitarian law, the ICRC is the lead agency in the Red Cross Movement, but it has weathered some power