ZAKA (, abbreviation for Zihuy Korbanot Ason, , ) is a series of voluntary community emergency response teams in Israel, each operating in a police district (two in the Central District due to geographic considerations). These organizations are recognized by the Israeli government. The full name is "ZAKA – Identification, Extraction and Rescue – True Kindness" (). The two largest ZAKA factions are Zaka Tel Aviv and ZAKA Search and Rescue.
Members of ZAKA, most of whom are Orthodox Jews, assist ambulance crews, aid in the identification of the victims of terrorism, road accidents and other disasters, and where necessary gather body parts and spilled blood for proper Jewish burial. They also provide first aid and rescue services, and help with the search for missing persons and participate in international rescue and recovery operations.
The founders and members of ZAKA prefer to call the organization and their work Chesed shel Emet ( – ), because they are dedicated to ensuring that the bodies of Jewish victims are buried according to Halakha, Jewish law. After acts of terrorism, ZAKA volunteers also collect the bodies and body parts of non-Jews, including suicide bombers, for return to their families. The phrase Chesed shel Emet refers to doing "kindness" for the benefit of the deceased, which is considered to be "true kindness", because the (deceased) beneficiaries of the kindness cannot return the kindness.
The organization says it employs around 4,000 volunteers, though an 2022 investigation by Haaretz, based on "documents and testimonies by senior figures in the organization", said there were fewer than 1,000 volunteers, alleged that the numbers were inflated to increase funding, and found volunteers who said they had not received the biannual training mandated by the Interior Ministry. ZAKA denied the report. In 2017, its annual operating budget was about one million shekels.
History
The organization preceding ZAKA started when a group of volunteers gathered to assist in the recovery of human remains from a terrorist attack on bus line 405 in Israel in 1989.
The ZAKA network was set up in the early 1950s and was founded in the 1990s by Yehuda Meshi Zahav, Rabbi Shlomo Eisenbach, and Rabbi Tzvi Hussid as a non-profit organization in addition to its police status. This arrangement succeeded the ZAKA organization founded by Rabbi Gelbstein in 1989.
In 1995, the newly organized ZAKA Search and Rescue and ZAKA Tel Aviv were recognized by the Israeli government and now work closely with the Israel Police in the identification of disaster victims.
ZAKA activities expanded rapidly during the al-Aqsa Intifada (from September 2000), when frequent terrorist suicide bombings created many scenes of disaster, with the remains and body parts of many victims strewn around bombing sites.
In 2004, a group of ZAKA volunteers flew to The Hague, with the wreckage of the bus destroyed in the Jerusalem bus suicide bombing on 29 January 2004. The wreckage, along with pictures of 950 victims of terrorism, was taken to Washington, D.C. to urge the United States government to act against terrorism. The bus was later displayed at various US universities.
In January 2016, after two failed attempts, ZAKA was granted the status by the United Nations as a consultant non-governmental organization.
Organization
Currently, the Israeli government funds three ZAKA organizations demographically divided in different police districts in Israel. ZAKA Tel Aviv covers the Tel Aviv district. According to the most recent Police report ZAKA Tel Aviv responded to 550.33% more calls and had 410.20% more volunteers respond to emergencies than any other ZAKA.
In 2010, ZAKA volunteers numbered 1,500. These volunteers work in coordination with Israeli government agencies on any unnatural death including vehicle accidents, terrorist bombing, murder or suicide. Trained as paramedics and in first aid, the volunteers, who are on call 24/7, attempt to revive the victims and, if unsuccessful, respectfully attend to the dead.
ZAKA also has two units made up of Bedouin, Muslim, and Druze volunteers to serve Israel's non-Jewish communities, primarily Bedouin in the Negev and Druze in the Galilee. According to both Jewish and Muslim religious law, it is important to treat the dead respectfully, whether it be covering the bodies so that others cannot see them or collecting every last body part for burial, including blood. These units also function when religious Jews cannot, on the Jewish Sabbath and holidays. According to Jewish law, Jews may violate the Sabbath to save a life, but not to deal with the dead.