View source for ZAKA

{{Short description|Voluntary emergency response teams in Israel}}
{{Other uses|Zaka (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = ZAKA
| formation = {{start date and age|1989}}
| full_name = 
| native name = זק"א
| native_name_lang = he
| logo = Zaka Logo.svg
| logo_size = 205
| logo_caption =
| purpose = [[First aid]], [[search and rescue]], [[Jewish burial]]
| location_country = {{Flagicon|Israel}} [[Israel]]
| leader_title = CEO
| leader_name = Dubi Weissenstern
| founder =[[Yehuda Meshi Zahav]]
| volunteers = >3,000
| volunteers_year = 2023
| website = {{URL|https://zaka.org.il/}}
}}

'''ZAKA''' ({{langx|he|זק"א}}, [[abbreviation]] for ''Zihuy Korbanot Ason'', {{Script/Hebrew|זיהוי קרבנות אסון}}, {{Lit|Disaster Victim Identification}}) is a series of voluntary post-disaster response teams in [[Israel]], each operating in a police district (two in the [[Central District (Israel) |Central District]] due to geographic considerations). They are recognized by the Israeli government. The full name is "ZAKA – Identification, Extraction and Rescue – True Kindness" ({{Script/Hebrew|זק"א - איתור חילוץ והצלה - חסד של אמת}}). The two largest ZAKA factions are Zaka Tel Aviv and ZAKA Search and Rescue.

ZAKA faced insolvency before 7 October 2023. Given the job of retrieving the dead bodies after the [[October 7 attacks]], they started fund-raising on 8 October 2023. By 31 January 2024, they had raised over 50 million [[israeli new shekel|shekels]] ($13.7 million). According to ''Haaretz,'' ZAKA's conduct in the aftermath of the attacks was unprofessional, including mixing up remains and spreading misinformation about atrocities that never happened in order to raise money.<ref name="zaka-problems" /><ref name="toi-zaka-fabrications" />

==Background==
ZAKA volunteers respond to the scenes of violent attacks and homicides throughout Israel. The volunteers are trained paramedics and are on call 24/7.<ref name="JTA1" /> ZAKA collects the remains of the dead, including their blood, so that they may be buried in accordance with Jewish religious law. Volunteers are allowed to work on [[Shabbat]], because the sabbath can be broken in matters of life and death.<ref name="BBC" />

Members of ZAKA, most of whom are [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jews]], assist [[ambulance]] crews, aid in the identification of the victims of violence, road accidents and other disasters, and where necessary gather body parts and spilled [[blood]] for proper [[Bereavement in Judaism#Funeral service|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.<ref>{{Cite news |title=היחסים בין חרדים לבין חילונים נרקמים מחדש אחרי 7 באוקטובר |url=https://www.themarker.com/news/politics/2023-10-25/ty-article/0000018b-62bd-d473-a5fb-66fd1ed90000 |access-date=2024-03-04 |work=TheMarker}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=העורף |first=כיכר בשיתוף פיקוד |date=2021-03-21 |title=פיקוד העורף וזק"א מסכמים מבצע הס.. |url=https://www.kikar.co.il/general/388010 |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=כיכר השבת |language=he}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ZAKA exploited Hamas's October 7 attack to campaign for donations – report |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/zaka-exploited-hamass-october-7-attack-to-campaign-for-donations-report/}}</ref>

After acts of violence, ZAKA volunteers also collect the bodies and body parts of non-Jews, including [[Suicide bombing|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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-11-28 |title=ZAKA's mission: Picking up the pieces |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/zakas-mission-picking-up-the-pieces-609061 |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |language=en |issn=0792-822X}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Kibbutz Be'eri after the massacre, Zaka volunteers in the kibbutz take care of the remains of murdered people.jpg|thumb|250px|right|ZAKA volunteers working in destroyed [[Be'eri]] after the [[Be'eri massacre|massacre in 2023]]]]
[[File:ZakaAmbulance.JPG|thumb|250px|right|Zaka armoured [[ambulance]] for use in the [[West Bank]]]]

The organization traces its roots to a group of religious volunteers who assisted in the recovery of human remains after the [[Tel Aviv–Jerusalem bus 405 suicide attack|Tel Aviv Jerusalem bus 405 attack]] in Israel in 1989, during the [[First Intifada]]. ZAKA was formally established in 1995.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |last=Gunter |first=Joel |title=Zaka: The volunteers giving dignity to Israel's dead |work=[[BBC]] |date=2023-10-14 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67100014 |access-date=20 November 2023}}</ref>

During the attack on bus line 405 in 1990, [[Yehuda Meshi Zahav]] arrived with other yeshiva boys to provide first aid to the victims. On his way home, he concluded that if in the enemy's view everyone is equal, so too for him. In the 1990s, he arrived at the scenes of suicide bombing attacks in Israel, among other things, and treated the bodies of those killed. As a result, ZAKA (Disaster Victim Identification) was founded. In his capacity as Chairman of ZAKA, he worked for inter-religious and secular reconciliation.<ref name=Biography>{{cite web |url=http://www.zaka.org.il/yehuda_meshi_zahav |title=Biography (in Hebrew) |access-date=12 January 2024 |archive-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423074209/http://www.zaka.org.il/yehuda_meshi_zahav |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2005, ZAKA established a minorities unit with [[Bedouin]], [[Muslim]], and [[Druze]] volunteers to serve Israel's non-Jewish communities, primarily Bedouin in the [[Negev]] and Druze in the [[Galilee]]. These units also function when religious Jews cannot, on the Jewish [[Shabbat|Sabbath]]{{dubious|reason=ZAKA generally does have rabbinical dispensation to work on Sabbath. What is meant here? Mistake or smth. specific?|date=December 2023}} and holidays. According to Jewish law, Jews may violate the Sabbath to save a life, but not to deal with the dead. In 2010, ZAKA said it planned to increase its minorities units to 125 volunteers.<ref name="JTA1" />

In 2004, a group of ZAKA volunteers flew to [[The Hague]], with the wreckage of the bus destroyed in the [[Jerusalem bus 19 suicide bombing]] on 29 January 2004. The wreckage, along with pictures of victims, was taken to [[Washington, D.C.]] to urge the [[United States Government]] to act against the Palestinian resistance movement.<ref name="MFA">{{Cite web |date=29 January 2004 |title=Suicide bombing of Egged bus no. 19 in Jerusalem |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2004/1/Suicide%20bombing%20of%20Egged%20bus%20no%2019%20in%20Jerusalem%20- |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207004529/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2004/1/Suicide%20bombing%20of%20Egged%20bus%20no%2019%20in%20Jerusalem%20- |archive-date=7 February 2009 |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=[[Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]}}</ref> The bus was later displayed at various US universities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 June 2007 |title=Bombed Israeli Bus on Display at Duke Oct. 12-13 |url=http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2004/10/bus19_1004_print.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610172336/http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2004/10/bus19_1004_print.htm |archive-date=10 June 2007 |website=[[Duke University]]}}</ref>

In August 2007, ZAKA members were accused of burning down a secret [[crematorium]] in Israel. Most Jews believe Jews should be buried according to religious tradition, not cremated. ZAKA's founder Yehuda Meshi Zahav denied any involvement of ZAKA in the arson but called the existence of the crematorium a "desecration of the dead" and said that the crematorium was "destined to disappear in flames."<ref>{{cite news |work=[[BBC News]] |title= 'Arson' at Tel Aviv crematorium |date= August 23, 2007 | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6959892.stm |access-date= 4 January 2009 |archive-date= 25 January 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190125161304/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6959892.stm |url-status= live}}</ref>

In January 2016, after two failed attempts, the [[United Nations]] granted ZAKA the status of a 'consultant [[non-governmental organization|NGO]]'.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ziri |first=Danielle |date=2016-01-28 |title=UN gives ZAKA official consultant status |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/un-gives-zaka-official-consultant-status-443016 |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |language=en-US |archive-date=27 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927061957/https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/un-gives-zaka-official-consultant-status-443016 |url-status= live}}</ref>

ZAKA faced insolvency before 7 October 2023. Given the job of retrieving the dead bodies after the [[October 7 attacks]], they started fund-raising on 8 October 2023. By 31 January 2024, they had raised over 50 million [[israeli new shekel|shekels]] ($13.7 million). A ''[[Haaretz]]'' investigation accused them of "negligence, misinformation and a fundraising campaign that used the dead as props".<ref name="zaka-problems">{{cite news |last1=Rabinowitz |first1=Aaron |date=31 January 2024 |title=Death and Donations: Did the Israeli Volunteer Group Handling the Dead of October 7 Exploit Its Role? |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-31/ty-article-magazine/.premium/death-and-donations-did-the-volunteer-group-handling-the-october-7-dead-exploit-its-role/0000018d-5a73-d997-adff-df7bdb670000 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240209154317/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-31/ty-article-magazine/.premium/death-and-donations-did-the-volunteer-group-handling-the-october-7-dead-exploit-its-role/0000018d-5a73-d997-adff-df7bdb670000 |archive-date=2024-02-09 |access-date=6 February 2024 |work=Haaretz |language=en |quote=In the meantime, Zaka volunteers were there. Most of them worked at the sites of murder and destruction from morning to night. However, according to witness accounts, it becomes clear that others were engaged in other activities entirely. As part of the effort to get media exposure, Zaka spread accounts of atrocities that never happened, released sensitive and graphic photos, and acted unprofessionally on the ground.}}</ref>

==Organization==
Its volunteers are almost all ultra-Orthodox Jews.<ref name="BBC" /> However as of 2010, more than 125 Muslim, Druze, and Bedouin volunteers provided services to non-Jewish victims.<ref name="JTA1" />

In 2010, ZAKA volunteers numbered 1,500.<ref name="JTA1">{{cite web |url=https://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/05/21/2739261/zaka-expanding-arab-units |title=ZAKA expanding Arab units |author=Amy Klein |date=2010-05-21 |publisher=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency|JTA]] |access-date=2010-07-06 |archive-date=24 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924101415/http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/05/21/2739261/zaka-expanding-arab-units |url-status=live }}</ref>

The organization says it employs around 4,000 volunteers, though a 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.<ref name="Haaretz22">{{cite news |author=Breiner |first=Josh |date=18 December 2022 |title=Zaka Jerusalem Inflated Data, and Got Millions of Shekels as a Result |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-12-18/ty-article/.premium/zaka-jerusalem-inflated-data-and-got-millions-of-shekels-as-a-result/00000185-2201-dcb5-abe7-eaaf36070000 |url-status=live |access-date=18 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218071800/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-12-18/ty-article/.premium/zaka-jerusalem-inflated-data-and-got-millions-of-shekels-as-a-result/00000185-2201-dcb5-abe7-eaaf36070000 |archive-date=18 December 2022}}</ref> ZAKA denied the report.<ref name="Haaretz22" /> In 2017, its annual operating budget was about one million shekels.<ref>[https://zaka-israel.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%96%D7%9F-2017.pdf Zaka 2017 Financial Declaration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109005220/https://zaka-israel.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%96%D7%9F-2017.pdf|date=9 January 2021}} (Hebrew), December 2017 (hosted on the official website).</ref> [[The New York Times]] reported a membership of "more than 3,000 volunteers, most of them ultra-Orthodox Jewish men" in 2024.<ref name=":0" />

==International rescue & recovery operations==

* In late 2004 and early 2005, members of ZAKA provided assistance in [[Thailand]], [[Sri Lanka]], [[India]] and [[Indonesia]] in the aftermath of the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake]]. Forensic teams reportedly dubbed the group "the team that sleeps with the dead" because they toiled nearly 24 hours a day at Buddhist pagodas in Thailand that had been transformed into morgues to identify those who died in the tsunami. The experience of ZAKA members, who reportedly see 38 bodies a week on average in Israel, helped the Israeli forensic team to identify corpses faster than many of the other forensic teams that operated in Thailand in the aftermath of the disaster, which placed them in high demand with grieving families.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-01-08 |title=Israelis bring skills at identifying bodies |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Asia-Tsunami/Israelis-bring-skills-at-identifying-bodies/2005/01/07/1104832310176.html |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |language=en |archive-date=1 March 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060301110542/http://www.smh.com.au/news/Asia-Tsunami/Israelis-bring-skills-at-identifying-bodies/2005/01/07/1104832310176.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* In February 2007, ZAKA sent a 10-person search and rescue team, consisting primarily of rescue divers, to Paris to search for a missing Israeli defense official. The mission was funded by the Defense Ministry at an expected cost of $80,000.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lis |first=Jonathan |date=18 February 2007 |title=ZAKA rescue team to search for defense official missing in France |work=[[Haaretz]] |url=https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/827237.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829174354/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/827237.html |archive-date=29 August 2008}}</ref>
* In November 2008, ZAKA volunteers went to [[Mumbai]], [[India]] following [[2008 Mumbai attacks|terrorist attacks]] that included a [[Nariman House|Jewish center]] among its targets.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-11-27 |title=MDA, ZAKA dispatch teams to Mumbai |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel/mda-zaka-dispatch-teams-to-mumbai |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |language=en |issn=0792-822X}}</ref>
* Following the [[2010 Haiti earthquake]], a six-man ZAKA International [[Search and Rescue]] Unit delegation arrived in [[Haiti]] to assist with search and recovery efforts. Working with the Mexican military delegation and Jewish volunteers from Mexico, eight students trapped under the rubble of the collapsed eight-storey Port-au-Prince University building were rescued on the first day after their arrival.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Julian |first=Hana Levi |date=14 January 2010 |title=One Israeli Missing in Haiti |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/135528 |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=[[Israel National News]] |archive-date=12 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012202302/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/135528 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=8 saved during "Shabbat from hell" |work=[[ISRAEL21c]] |url=http://www.israel21c.org/briefs/8-saved-during-qshabbat-from-hellq |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100119072338/http://www.israel21c.org/briefs/8-saved-during-qshabbat-from-hellq |archive-date=19 January 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Levy |first=Amit |date=2010-01-17 |title=ZAKA mission to Haiti 'proudly desecrating Shabbat' |language=en |work=[[Ynetnews]] |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3835327,00.html |access-date=2023-10-12 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109014058/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3835327,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Teams of ZAKA volunteers were sent to [[Japan]] in March 2011 to assist in search-and-rescue after the devastating [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami|earthquake and subsequent tsunami]].<ref name="japan">{{cite news |date=11 March 2011 |title=Israel team of volunteers to help with search and rescue efforts in Japan - Haaretz Daily Newspaper |work=[[Haaretz]] |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/international/israel-team-of-volunteers-to-help-with-search-and-rescue-efforts-in-japan-1.348614 |access-date=13 March 2011 |archive-date=13 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110313085929/http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/israel-team-of-volunteers-to-help-with-search-and-rescue-efforts-in-japan-1.348614 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* A ZAKA team was part of an Israeli mission to [[Nepal]] in late April 2015 to help search for casualties in the aftermath of the [[April 2015 Nepal earthquake|earthquake and subsequent avalanches]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.matzav.com/200-israeli-soldiers-dispatched-to-nepal|title=200 Israeli soldiers dispatched to Nepal|date=26 April 2015|work=The Matzav Network (matzav.com)|access-date=27 April 2015|archive-date=29 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429191103/http://matzav.com/200-israeli-soldiers-dispatched-to-nepal|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In January 2019, a ZAKA team deployed in [[Brazil]] to conduct search and rescue operations following a [[Brumadinho dam disaster|dam collapse in Brumadinho]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 January 2019 |title=ZAKA, IDF leave on rescue mission to Brazil - Diaspora - Jerusalem Post |url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/ZAKA-IDF-leave-on-rescue-mission-to-Brazil-578793 |access-date=2019-03-29 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |archive-date=13 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013004618/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/zaka-idf-leave-on-rescue-mission-to-brazil-578793 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Casualties and injuries ==
Several ZAKA volunteers died as a result of the [[October 7 attacks]]. Danny Vovk, a driver, was killed during the [[Netiv HaAsara massacre]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Danny Vovk, 45: ZAKA diver 'fended off 20 terrorists' before death |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/danny-vovk-45-zaka-diver-fended-off-20-terrorists-before-death/ |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |language=en-US |issn=0040-7909}}</ref>

Widespread psychological trauma was reported among ZAKA volunteers as a result of the scenes that they worked to clean.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Frenkel |first=Sheera |date=2024-01-15 |title=They Thought They Knew Death, but That Didn't Prepare Them for Oct. 7 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/15/world/middleeast/they-thought-they-knew-death-but-that-didnt-prepare-them-for-oct-7.html |access-date=2024-01-15 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

== Controversies ==

=== Yehuda Meshi-Zahav ===
After [[Yehuda Meshi Zahav|Yehuda Meshi-Zahav]], ZAKA's co-founder and main figurehead for more than 30 years, was awarded the [[Israel Prize]] in March 2021,<ref name="Aran">{{Cite book |last=Aran |first=Gideon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x0DREAAAQBAJ&pg=PR20 |title=The Cult of Dismembered Limbs: Jewish Rites of Death at the Scene of Palestinian Suicide Terrorism |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-768914-1 |page=xx-xi |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=TOI Staff |date=2021-03-02 |title=Zaka emergency group cofounder awarded Israel Prize for contribution to society |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/zaka-emergency-group-cofounder-awarded-israel-prize-for-contribution-to-society/ |access-date=2024-01-17 |work=[[Times of Israel]]}}</ref> multiple accusations surfaced of his having committed sexual assaults against women, girls and boys over several decades, with the knowledge of others in the community.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Rabinowitz |first1=Aaron |last2=Elk |first2=Shira |date=2021-03-11 |title=Israel Prize Winner, Zaka Founder Sexually Assaulted Boys, Girls and Women, Haaretz Investigation Reveals |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2021-03-11/ty-article/.highlight/israel-prize-winner-sexually-assaulted-children-women-haaretz-probe-reveals/0000017f-e87d-d62c-a1ff-fc7f8fe00000 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231016074308/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2021-03-11/ty-article/.highlight/israel-prize-winner-sexually-assaulted-children-women-haaretz-probe-reveals/0000017f-e87d-d62c-a1ff-fc7f8fe00000 |archive-date=2023-10-16 |access-date=2024-01-17 |work=Haaretz |language=en |quote=Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, the celebrated founder of the Zaka rescue organization, had a darker side, taking advantage of his position for decades with the knowledge of others in the community, his accusers say}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=TOI Staff |date=2021-03-12 |title=ZAKA emergency group co-founder accused of multiple cases of rape, sexual abuse |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/zaka-emergency-group-co-founder-accused-of-multiple-cases-of-rape-sexual-abuse/ |access-date=2024-01-17 |work=[[Times of Israel]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Knell |first=Yolande |date=2022-09-22 |title=Israel: Is this an ultra-Orthodox MeToo moment? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-62984847 |access-date=2024-01-17 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB |quote=But that changed in 2021, just after it was announced that Zahav had won the esteemed Israel Prize - regarded as the country's highest cultural honour. A newspaper published accusations of how since the 1980s, Zahav had been using his status and power to assault women and children.}}</ref> [[Channel 13 (Israel)|Channel 13]] reported that ZAKA officials had known about the abuse allegations and worked to silence the claims.<ref>{{Cite news |last=TOI Staff |date=2021-03-16 |title=Police said to suspect ZAKA officials hushed reports of founder's alleged crimes |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-said-to-suspect-public-officials-knew-of-zaka-founders-alleged-crimes/ |work=[[Times of Israel]]}}</ref> Meshi-Zahav subsequently resigned ZAKA leadership and relinquished the Israel Prize.<ref name=":2" /> 

In response to the accusations, a senior ZAKA official said the organization had now "washed its hands" of Meshi-Zahav and that "given the accusations against him, it's very hard to remember the good that he's done. We always saw him with women and suspected that he was a deviant, but we never suspected he was a pedophile or a rapist. In retrospect, this [the allegations] explains a lot of things we saw over the years.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Greenwood |first1=Hanan |last2=Saban |first2=Itsik |last3=i24NEWS |date=2021-03-17 |editor3-last= |title=Report: Top ZAKA officials worked to silence sexual abuse claims against founder |url=https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/03/17/report-top-zaka-officials-worked-to-silence-sexual-abuse-claims-against-founder/ |access-date=2024-01-18 |website=[[Israel Hayom]]}}</ref> Following a suicide attempt in April 2021, Meshi-Zahav entered a coma and died in June 2022.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Rabinowitz |first=Aaron |date=2022-06-29 |title=Zaka Founder Meshi-Zahav, Implicated in Decades of Sexual Abuse, Dies |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-06-29/ty-article/.premium/zaka-founder-meshi-zahav-implicated-in-decades-of-sexual-abuse-has-died/00000181-addd-d46e-add3-bdfda1470000 |access-date=2024-01-17 |work=Haaretz |language=en}}</ref> 

Gideon Aran, a Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem|Hebrew University]], said in his book about ZAKA that most ZAKA volunteers, while familiar with Meshi-Zahav and the colorful image of himself that he had cultivated, probably had no inkling of his misconduct; only a very few senior members were partially aware of his inclinations, without suspecting there was criminal and pathological behavior involved.<ref name="Aran" /> Following the scandal, Aran found that aside from a few changes in personnel, the organization's principles, sentiments and activities remained the same, and the damage to its public reputation was minimal.<ref name="Aran" />

=== October 7 attacks ===
In the aftermath of the [[October 7 attacks]], ZAKA volunteers gave several incorrect reports of atrocities allegedly committed by Hamas, including the binding and burning of babies, that were widely circulated in the media.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Hasson |first1=Nir |last2=Rozovsky |first2=Liza |date=2023-12-04 |title=Hamas Committed Documented Atrocities. But a Few False Stories Feed the Deniers |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-04/ty-article-magazine/.premium/hamas-committed-documented-atrocities-but-a-few-false-stories-feed-the-deniers/0000018c-34f3-da74-afce-b5fbe24f0000 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231220010209/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-04/ty-article-magazine/.premium/hamas-committed-documented-atrocities-but-a-few-false-stories-feed-the-deniers/0000018c-34f3-da74-afce-b5fbe24f0000 |archive-date=2023-12-20 |access-date=2024-01-17 |work=Haaretz |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2023-12-15 |title=Israel social security data reveals true picture of Oct 7 deaths |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231215-israel-social-security-data-reveals-true-picture-of-oct-7-deaths |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=[[France 24]]/[[Agence France Presse]] |language=en}}</ref> Some of ZAKA's accounts of [[Sexual and gender-based violence in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel]] have also been debunked. For example, one volunteer discovered a girl's body with her pants pulled down and concluded that she had been sexually assaulted. Later, it was discovered that Israeli soldiers had in fact dragged the body across the floor, causing the pants to fall.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2024-05-22 |title=How 2 debunked accounts of sexual violence on Oct. 7 fueled a global dispute over Israel-Hamas war |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-sexual-violence-zaka-ca7905bf9520b1e646f86d72cdf03244 |access-date=2024-08-02 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>  

A ZAKA leader acknowledged mistakes were made: "When we find bodies that are burned or in a state of decomposition, we can easily be mistaken and think the body is a child's ... Our volunteers were confronted with traumatic scenes and sometimes misinterpreted what they saw."<ref name=":1" /> ZAKA also stated that they are not forensics specialists. However, the debunked accounts have fed skepticism about Israel's description of the events of the Hamas attacks.<ref name=":3" />

A subsequent ''Haaretz'' report stated that in order to get media exposure, ZAKA spread accounts of atrocities that never happened and released sensitive and graphic photos in an effort to shock people into donating.<ref name="zaka-problems" /><ref name="toi-zaka-fabrications">{{cite news |date=6 February 2024 |title=ZAKA exploited Hamas's October 7 attack to campaign for donations – report Volunteers who worked alongside ZAKA accuse members of creating |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/zaka-exploited-hamass-october-7-attack-to-campaign-for-donations-report/#:~:text=The%20unit%27s%20soldiers%2C%20as%20well,a%20bid%20for%20screen%20time. |access-date=10 February 2024 |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |quote=The unit’s soldiers, as well as volunteers from other organizations, accused ZAKA volunteers of spreading stories of horrors that didn’t happen, releasing sensitive and graphic photos to shock people into donating, and being unprofessional in a bid for screen time. |issn=0040-7909}}</ref> The ''Haaretz'' investigation accused ZAKA of "negligence, misinformation and a fundraising campaign that used the dead as props".<ref name="zaka-problems" /> ''Haaretz'' also said that while hundreds of ZAKA volunteers did important work under challenging conditions, the organization acted unprofessionally on the ground, often mixing up the remains of multiple victims in the same bag and creating little or no documentation.<ref name="zaka-problems" /><ref name="toi-zaka-fabrications" />

==Key people==
* Yossi Landau, Head of Operations, Southern Region<ref>{{cite web |date=23 October 2023 |title=The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life, 2023 |url=https://www.algemeiner.com/list/the-top-100-people-positively-influencing-jewish-life-2023/yossi-landau/ |access-date=9 January 2024 |website=[[Algemeiner Journal]]}}</ref>
* Rabbi Yechezkel (Hezki) Farkash, Head of Operations, Northern Region<ref>{{cite news |last=Maital |first=Shlomo |date=28 November 2019 |title=ZAKA's mission: Picking up the pieces |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/zakas-mission-picking-up-the-pieces-609061 |access-date=9 January 2024 |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]]}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Chesed Shel Emes]]
* [[Chevra kadisha]]
* [[Hatzalah]]
* [[Magen David Adom]]
* [[Misaskim]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.zaka.us ZAKA USA Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601054329/http://www.zaka.us/ |date=1 June 2020 }}
* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Orgs/zaka.html ZAKA] at the [[Jewish Virtual Library]]
* [http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/israeldiary/ZAKA_Always_There_When_Terror_Strikes.asp ZAKA: Always there when terror strikes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601054340/https://www.aish.com/jw/id/48894137.html |date=1 June 2020 }}, [[Aish HaTorah|aish.com]]
* [http://www.torah.org/features/firstperson/zaka.html ZAKA: Kindness Amid Terror - An Interview with a volunteer], [[Yitzchok Adlerstein|torah.org]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95X6uWZ9k9Q Meet Israel's ZAKA, the group that fabricated the 'beheaded babies' story], [[Turkish Radio and Television Corporation|TRT]], 16 March 2024 
{{Emergency Services in Israel|state=expanded}} 
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[[Category:Emergency management in Israel]]
[[Category:Jewish medical organizations]]
[[Category:Medical and health organizations based in Israel]]
[[Category:Volunteer search and rescue organizations]]
[[Category:Charities based in Israel]]
[[Category:Emergency services in Israel]]
[[Category:1989 establishments in Israel]]
[[Category:Volunteer organizations in Israel]]