Israeli football icon, Avi Cohen's death following a motorcycle accident in December 2010 has sparked an intense debate about organ donation in the Jewish state.

The 54 year old Cohen was declared brain dead following the accident. When doctors asked his family for permission to retrieve his organs, they refused (for private reasons), even though Cohen had signed a donor card when he was alive.

Israel has a low rate of organ donation compared to Western nations, with only 10 percent of the population registered as organ donors. The ultra-Orthodox rabbis oppose organ donation as they believe that a person is alive until the heart stops, and not when declared brain dead. Critics say that the rabbis are out of touch with the advances in modern medicine. An editorial in the Jerusalem Post said that “Protecting the 'life' of a Jew with irreversible brainstem damage has become more important for these irresponsible figures than saving the life of another human being, Jew or non-Jew.”

To win the support of the rabbis, a law has been passed defining brain death and spelling out in detail the process of declaring a person brain dead. Only specially trained doctors who have passed a special course by a team of 10 experts, including three rabbis, can declare brain death. Brain death must also be corroborated by investigations that require expensive equipment that is not available in most Israeli hospitals.

Supporters of organ donation are calling for a policy of “presumed consent” where automatic consent for organ donation is assumed, unless those opposed to it have “opted out.” They also say that donated organs should be made available only to those who are themselves prepared to donate. While Israel is unlikely to adopt this policy, it has implemented a controversial two-year trial programme that allows donor card holders to jump ahead on organ waiting lists. But what Cohen's case has also done is that it has brought into focus the issue to make signing an organ donation card binding, like a will, to prevent families from overturning the wishes of the deceased.