ZAKA Newsletter #6

Welcome to the website of the British Friends of ZAKA.

ZAKA, founded in 1995, is Israel's dominant non-governmental lifesaving, rescue and recovery organisation, with over 1500 volunteers, 34 ambulances and 162 motorcycles deployed around the country, on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to respond to any terror attack, disaster or accident immediately, professionally and with the necessary equipment.

ZAKA, which is perhaps best known for its sacred work in collecting human remains to ensure a proper Jewish burial, is also active in the fields of emergency response (using motorcycles equipped with first aid and fire-fighting equipment), search and rescue (including specialist canine, divers and rappelling units) and accident prevention. As a consequence of the Second Lebanon War, a joint ZAKA and IDF Home Front unit has been formed to deal with any future home front emergencies.

ZAKA, recognized in 2005 by the United Nations as an international humanitarian organisation, also sends highly trained volunteers to assist in international disasters, working in conjunction with other emergency personnel. These include the Tsunami and Phuket plane crash in Thailand, the Katrina hurricane disaster in New Orleans, the Columbia space shuttle crash and terror attacks in Turkey, Mombasa and Taba, among others.

ZAKA is the Hebrew acronym for Disaster Victim Identification - a name that today, with the broadened scope of the organisation, conceals so much more than it reveals.