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 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 ( – "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. 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