In a report posted on the Ynet News Website, the Zaka organization is currently in negotiations with the IDF – on the possibility of calling up Zaka volunteers for service in emergency situations, including war.

According to the report, the group’s directors Dudi Zilbershlag and Yehuda Meshi Zahav have been in talks with the Home Front Command in recent weeks and have formulated a plan that would see thousands of Zaka volunteers operating under the army’s command in a time of war.

Meshi Zahav and Zilbershlag were angered by the initiative’s publication Wednesday, before its details had been finalized. “We agreed with the Home Front Command to keep the matter under wraps until we receive the approval of Rabbonim,” Zilbershlag explained.

IDF officials said that as part of the lessons of the Second Lebanon War, and due to concerns that during the next war Home Front Command soldiers would be too busy with rescue operations to attend to civilians, it has been agreed to try and recruit Zaka volunteers and yeshiva students to aid civilians in such events.

Both the IDF and Zaka stressed that the idea was still in its initial stages, and that no agreement had yet been reached.

During last summer’s war, Zaka, along with 62 other non-governmental organizations took part in providing support and aid for Israel’s north.

(Source: Ynet)