JERUSALEM โ ZAKA Search & Rescue says it responded to more than 7,000 cases in 2025 across Israel and in several international deployments, continuing its core mission of sustaining life, honoring the dead, and providing closure to families in moments of sudden loss. The Jerusalem-based volunteer organization described the year as one marked by terror attacks, severe road incidents, and complex recovery operations at home and abroad.
According to ZAKAโs year-end figures, volunteers were dispatched to more than a dozen terror attacks, over 2,300 traffic accidents, and more than 500 Chesed Shel Emet cases that included work accidents, drownings, and other unnatural deaths. In those road incidents alone, teams recovered the remains of some 160 fatalities, working alongside police and medical services to document scenes and ensure that bodies and human remains were handled in accordance with halachic and legal requirements.
The organization also reported being called to more than 130 locations where individuals were found deceased and in a state of decomposition in their homes, situations that require sensitive coordination with families, coroners, and law enforcement. These operations often involve challenging victim identification work as well as practical and emotional support for relatives who may only learn of a death days or weeks after it occurred.
Beyond its post-fatality work, ZAKA said it carried out over 40 search and rescue operations for missing persons and responded to nearly 4,000 rapid response and medical emergency calls during 2025. In many of those cases, volunteers on motorcycles or in specially equipped vehicles arrived at the scene first, providing initial medical assistance, securing the area, and preserving critical evidence until additional emergency forces arrived.
โZAKAโs responsibility is to the deceased and to their families who need answers,โ CEO Dubi Weissenstern said, emphasizing that the organizationโs ethos is rooted in Kavod Hameit, the religious and moral obligation to respect the dead. โOur volunteers work quietly and professionally to ensure every person is treated with respect and that families can bury their loved ones with dignity and certainty,โ he said, describing each case as both a technical and spiritual responsibility.
ZAKA highlighted several international deployments during 2025 that focused on victim identification and recovery. Following a deadly terror attack in Sydney on the first night of Hanukkah, the group sent an experienced team to Australia to assist local authorities and the Jewish community with body recovery, documentation, and coordination of funerary arrangements. Additional responders traveled to Texas after severe flooding along the Guadalupe River, supporting local search and recovery operations and helping to ensure that remains were located and returned to families as quickly as possible.
โIn moments of tragedy, families are searching for answers and for their loved ones to be treated with care,โ said ZAKA U.S. Executive Director Moshe Rozenberg. He described the organizationโs role abroad as working under local command structures while bringing specialized expertise in recovery and identification grounded in both technical training and religious sensitivity. โZAKAโs role is to support authorities with expertise while ensuring that dignity and family closure remain at the center of the response,โ he said.
To sustain these activities, ZAKA operates a network of specialized units that complement its core Chesed Shel Emet and victim identification work. The Victim Identification Unit leads recovery and identification operations nationwide and is described as the backbone of the organizationโs activities. Supporting units include a Search and Rescue Unit for missing persons and a Rapid Response Motorcycle Unit designed to navigate congested urban environments and reach scenes quickly.
The organization also maintains a Resilience and Healing Unit that provides psychological and emotional support to volunteers who are routinely exposed to traumatic scenes. Additional capabilities include Divers and Jet Ski Units for water recovery, as well as Jeep and ATV Units for incidents in difficult terrain. A drone unit is also available for aerial search, mapping, and documentation. These tools are intended to increase the efficiency and safety of operations while expanding coverage across varied environments in Israel and beyond.
Reflecting Israelโs social and religious diversity, ZAKA says it maintains teams staffed by Muslim, Druze, and Christian volunteers who serve their own communities with cultural and religious sensitivity while adhering to the organizationโs professional standards. Its International Rescue Unit, which has been recognized by the United Nations, deploys to natural disasters and mass casualty events worldwide, often in partnership with local and international relief agencies.
In addition to operational units, ZAKA offers ancillary services designed to support families after a death. A Legal Unit helps relatives navigate required legal processes and, where possible, works to prevent autopsies that may conflict with religious beliefs. Another dedicated unit provides essential equipment and practical support to families during the mourning period, including items needed for shiva observances and burial.
โEvery case represents a life and a family,โ Weissenstern said in his closing remarks on the yearโs activity. He stressed that ZAKAโs work is measured not only in the number of incidents but in the dignity afforded to each victim and the certainty given to each family. โIn 2025, ZAKA remained focused on its responsibility to bring dignity, certainty, and closure in the most difficult circumstances,โ he said, noting that the organization expects demand for its services to remain high given ongoing security threats, population growth, and extreme weather events.
