The National Search and Rescue Unit (Hebrew acronym YAHTZA) is subordinate to the Home Front Command and is trained for special search and rescue operations anywhere in Israel and abroad, both in routine times and in emergencies.
The unit was established in 1984 by the late Colonel Gabriel Rappaport (Gavrosh) and Lieutenant Colonel Moshe Galili after the first and second disasters in Tyre.
The two disasters happened during the First Lebanon War. 135 people were killed as a result of the collapse of the Military Government building in Tyre (the first disaster) and as a result of a car bomb exploding near the entrance gate to the IDF/Border Patrol command center (the second disaster).
With the establishment of the unit, all forces that had previously been active in search and rescue were united, and the unit also began to operate as a training organization for civilian bodies.
Today, the unit is headed by a colonel in the reserves, and it consists of reserve soldiers and a small number of soldiers doing their compulsory army service.
In addition to rescue personnel, other people serving in the unit include commanders, physicians, engineers, mechanical/engineering equipment operators, and rescue dogs trained to locate people trapped under rubble.
The people serving in the unit are professional, skilled, and highly experienced. The unit is considered one of the most professional ones of its kind anywhere in the world in the field of search and rescue.
In order to maintain its high professional standards, the unit undertakes yearly training exercises. The unit displays impressive abilities, particularly in the quick deployment and flying of its people and equipment. This has been of tremendous help in a variety of disasters that occurred outside of Israel:
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earthquakes in Armenia, Mexico, Greece, and Turkey
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the bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Kenya: the 1998 bombing of the American embassy, and the terrorist attack on the Paradise Hotel
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the Sinai Desert: the car bomb explosion at the Taba Hilton Hotel
Commanders of the National Search and Rescue Unit:
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the late Colonel (Res.) Gabriel Rappaport (Gavrosh) (1983-1989)
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Colonel (Res.) Moshe Galili (1989-1993)
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Colonel (Res.) Udi Ben Uri (1993-2000)
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Colonel (Res.) Gideon Bar-On (2000-present)