"In the last week," says Haim Weingarten, head of the ZAKA's operations division, "the sights from the terrorist attacks of the past 25 years have returned to me in a powerful and frightening way."
Four victims in Be'er Sheva, two in Hadera, five in Bnei Brak - and among those standing at the front are ZAK members, who find themselves returning in the time tunnel to the days of the second intifada; even then they had to do their job, despite much mental suffering. In suicide bombings involving dozens of casualties; but in some ways, ZAKA officials say, last week's attacks pose an even greater challenge than the attacks of those dark days.
Also the wave of terror of 2016-2015, they add, these attacks put in the shadow - both in terms of intensity, and in terms of the necessity to act under immediate danger to life.
"Returning to the days of the second intifada": ZAK members, archives,
"During the difficult times of the terrorist attacks, we knew there was an explosion and that's it, and then everyone knows how to do their job properly, almost in laboratory conditions," Weingarten says. "However, today our volunteers arrive while firing. It puts each of us into existential fear.
"I meet volunteers with fear in their eyes, who want to help; but you see policemen with weapons drawn, special forces you have only seen in movies before, and they tell you that the area is not yet clean. We practice hard events and work in Israel and around the world "We were caught unprepared."
The scene of the attack in Bnei Brak, Photo: Koko
This week, Weingarten says, two ZAKA volunteers found themselves in the range of the fire.
The videos are posted online, and the woman does not let you out, telling you it's dangerous.
Of course, we go out, with a deep sense of mission, that we must reach out and perform the truth of truth as part of the security system. "
Meir Lasri, a ZAKA volunteer in Be'er Sheva, who was at the scene of the attack in the city last week, also testifies to a similar feeling: "We are close to the radios and every call makes us jump, until we understand that this is not an attack.
It's a kind of post-trauma. "
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