ZAKA is the Israeli volunteer network, most of its members Orthodox Jews, that identifies and collects the remains of the dead after disasters, including the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Through October 2023 the opening said members aid in the identification of the victims of terrorism, road accidents and other disasters, and that after acts of terrorism, ZAKA volunteers also collect the bodies and body parts of non-Jews, including suicide bombers. Today the opening calls ZAKA a series of voluntary post-disaster response teams, with terrorism surviving six times in the body. A reader today learns ZAKA responds to disaster generically, not that identifying the victims of terrorism was long stated as its core purpose.
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Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01. “terror” appeared 2 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 6.
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The opening as it read in 2010
Zaka logo Zaka armoured ambulance / utility vehicle for use in Judea and Samaria Area ZAKA ( , an abbreviation for Zihuy Korbanot Ason , literally: "Disaster Victim Identification"), 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).1These organizations are officially recognized by the government.2 The full name is ZAKA - Identification, Extraction and Rescue - True Kindness (Hebrew: זק"א - איתור חילוץ והצלה - חסד של אמת). The network was set up in the early 1990s. The Jerusalem ZAKA organization was founded in the 1990s by Yehuda Meshi Zahav and Rabbi Moshe Aizenbach and Rabbi Zvika Rosental. The Director Of ZAKA TLV as a non-profit organization in addition to its police status. This arrangement succeeded the ZAKA organization founded by Rabbi Elazar Gelbstein in 1989.3Members 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 burial . They also provide first aid and rescue services, and help with the search for missing persons.4ZAKA was involved in helping forensic teams in Thailand , Sri Lanka , India , and Indonesia in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake , where they were nicknamed "the team that sleeps with the dead" because of their willingness to work around the clock.5[1] The founders and members of ZAKA prefer to call the organization and their work Chesed shel Emet (חסד של אמת - "true kindness"), because they are dedicated to having the bodies of Jewish victims 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.6
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 366702299.
The opening as it stood in 2005
ZAKA זק"א - איתור חילוץ והצלה - חסד של אמת (an abbreviation for "Identifying Victims of Disaster" (in Hebrew : Zihuy Korbanot Asson )), is a community emergency response team in the State of Israel , officially recognized by the government. The organization was founded in 1989 by Yehuda Meshi Zahav and Rabbi Moshe Aizenbach .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 16199791.
The opening as it stood in 2015 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Zaka logo ZAKA ( , abbreviation for Zihuy Korbanot Ason , literally: Disaster Victim Identification ), 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 officially recognized by the government. The full name is "ZAKA - Identification, Extraction and Rescue - True Kindness" ( ). 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 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 (חסד של אמת - "Grace of truth"), 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.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 660805262.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Zaka logo ZAKA ( , abbreviation for Zihuy Korbanot Ason , Hebrew : זיהוי קרבנות אסון, literally: "Disaster Victim Identification"), 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" ( ). 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 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 (חסד של אמת – "Kindness of truth"), 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.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 958765842.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Series of voluntary community emergency response teams in Israel For other uses, see Zaka (disambiguation) . ZAKA ( , abbreviation for Zihuy Korbanot Ason , זיהוי קרבנות אסון , literally: "Disaster Victim Identification") 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" ( זק"א - איתור חילוץ והצלה - חסד של אמת ).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 ( חסד של אמת – "Kindness of truth"), 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 employs around 3,500 volunteers.In 2017, its annual operating budget was about one million dollars."The Space Race: The battle between the National and Tel-Aviv Zaka branches" (Hebrew, paywall), Haaretz , July 28, 2017.Zaka 2017 Financial Declaration (Hebrew), December 2017 (hosted on the official website).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178561633.
The opening as it stood in 2025 9 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Voluntary emergency response teams in Israel For other uses, see Zaka (disambiguation) . ZAKA ( Hebrew : זק"א , abbreviation for Zihuy Korbanot Ason , 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 due to geographic considerations).They are recognized by the Israeli government. The full name is "ZAKA – Identification, Extraction and Rescue – True Kindness" ( זק"א - איתור חילוץ והצלה - חסד של אמת ). The two largest ZAKA factions are Zaka Tel Aviv and ZAKA Search and Rescue. Given the job of retrieving the dead bodies after the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel , they started fund-raising on 8 October 2023.By 31 January 2024, they had raised over 50 million 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.
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Today
“terror” appeared 2 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 6. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
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2020
Oct '23
2025
terror
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Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
Where the word went
It left the opening. It did not leave the article. Wikipedia moved it down the page, where a reader arriving from a search result will not reach it.
“terror” now appears 3× under External links, 100% of the way down the article
Sections that no longer exist
Present on 6 October 2023, absent today. A heading can vanish because the section was deleted or because it was renamed or merged, and we have not separated those here, so treat this as a list of what to check rather than a verdict.
International rescue and recovery operations2,061 characters
Public recognition1,162 characters
Controversy1,283 characters
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
