The search and rescue efforts mounted for Nepal in 2015 highlighted the importance of collaboration between the military and non-military SAR organizations that Israel is able to mobilize in a disaster. The IDF Home Front Command regularly holds search and rescue training exercises in coordination with civilian rescue organizations. IDF Search and Rescue units in Nepal 2015
The unit has underwater, rappelling, combat, medical and air expertise. Unit 669 is on round-the-clock alert and was recently called into action to do an air search for survivors when ten students were killed by flash floods in southern Israel. The IDF Unit 669 is a completely separate SAR unit of the Israeli Air Force and is reserved for combat rescue, the evacuation of soldiers and civilians in wartime scenarios and airborne rescue operations. They are trained to rescue trapped civilians and soldiers from collapsed buildings and, at the same time, face an enemy that can be armed with conventional, biological or chemical weapons. The brigade served in Operation Protective Edge in 2014, when the soldiers had to cross into Gaza armed with an M-16 assault rifle and up to 35 kg. The SAR team operates state-of-the-art search and rescue equipment, treats people injured in warfare and natural disasters and decontaminates areas affected by chemical agents. They focus on defending the country from threats posed by enemies and terrorists, as well as on rescuing people in trouble in Israel and abroad. The SAR brigade comprises male and female combat soldiers who also serve as search and rescue personnel. A fourth SAR battalion was added to the original three battalions in 2012, when the IDF recognized the need for more highly trained search and rescue technicians. The SAR unit was first established in 1984 and called into action for the Armenian earthquake (1988), the bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina (1994) and earthquakes in Turkey, India, Haiti and Mexico. In the powerful aftermath of lethal tremors that shook Mexico in September 2017, 71 Israeli personnel from the IDF Home Front Command SAR brigade were on the ground within 23 hours, combing the rubble for people trapped in the debris.
The Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Search and Rescue (SAR) units as well as Israel’s many civilian SAR teams are primed and ready to respond immediately to any type of disaster, anywhere in the world. Or it could be that Israel’s swift response arises from the Jewish concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world), one of the defining qualities of the Jewish state and one that motivates her to immediate action when other countries are in crisis. Maybe it’s because Israel herself sits atop a massive fault line and understands all too well the destruction caused by a major earthquake. When the earth shakes anywhere on the globe, Israel is one of the first countries to spring into action and lend aid. IDF Search and Rescue units in Mexico 2017
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