Controversial Israeli NGO is training U.S. Sheriffs
The betrayal of the American Republic has got to stop
ZAKA, Israel’s ultra-orthodox religious voluntary emergency response and rescue organization, which admitted to fabricating atrocity stories about October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel, is now training US law enforcement.
ZAKA and October 7th
ZAKA stands for Zihuy Korbanot Ason — Disaster Victim Identification. During its work following the October 2023 massacre in Israel, members of ZAKA concocted gruesome stories of beheaded Israeli babies, murdered pregnant women, and mass rape.
The atrocity stories were repeated without question or verification by Western mainstream media, and even then-president Joe Biden and his Secretary of State. No credible photos, videos, or witness collaboration have ever emerged to back up the claims.
The stories were later acknowledged as lies by the leader of ZAKA, though only after they had been widely circulated and served to justify genocide in Gaza.
These fabricated stories enabled ZAKA, which was then facing bankruptcy, to raise tens of millions of dollars in donations – a large portion of which apparently never made it to Israel.
Within months, Israeli news sources and independent Western media exposed the fraudulent stories – yet US media continued to rely on ZAKA and other sources of false narratives. Americans relying on mainstream media were left in the dark.
ZAKA in the US
ZAKA is now training America’s 3,100 chief county officers, donating equipment to the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), and sharing specialized skills to manage terrorism incidents and mass casualty events. Trainings focus on mass casualty incident management, preparedness for terrorism-related emergencies, first responder mental health, forensic preservation and dignity, and Jewish burial customs.
Greg Champagne, an NSA spokesman, past president and current board member, described the association’s relationship with ZAKA as “informal,” though the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ZAKA and NSA in February 2025.
ZAKA runs specialized training sessions for sheriffs, many of whom are well-trained in evidence collection and forensics, but are not familiar with the process of preserving the dignity of the dead – an area in which ZAKA volunteers claim to excel.
Israeli law enforcement groups, police and border guards hosted an NSA delegation after October 7, 2023 to see the results of Hamas’ attack that was alleged to have killed 1,139 people.
Israeli officials later admitted that some of the dead had been killed by Israel’s own military. The US delegation was shown cutting edge techniques for dealing with trauma, and taught special methods for dealing with PTSD.
It is puzzling why NSA has to be trained by a religious group from a foreign country on procedures to handle human remains resulting from terrorism when the US endured its own terrorist attack on 9/11. IAK asked if NSA also had an MOU with the first responders of 9/11 where close to 3,000 American civilians and firefighters were killed in a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City in 2001. Champagne responded no but said NSA has received “a little bit of input over time” from them.
Israel has been involved in exchange programs with American law enforcers, including ICE and US Border Control, for years. This practice has human rights groups concerned, as US police are being trained by military and police personnel that routinely carry out massive human rights violations, including racial profiling, surveillance, prison torture, and violent crowd control practices against Palestinians.
Constitutional Obligations
The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officer Association (CSPOA), founded by Richard Mack trains sheriffs about the duty to obey their oaths of offices under state and federal constitutions and to understand their jurisdiction and authority. “Every sheriff, every peace officer in this country, swears an oath in God’s name to uphold, defend, protect and preserve the United States Constitution,” Mack said. “It is required by federal law – Article VI of the Constitution.”
The alliance between NSA and ZAKA evokes concerns about foreign interests conflicting with the sheriffs’ duty to uphold the Constitution, potentially undermining the law of the land. The training of local law enforcement by a foreign religious organization raises questions of dual loyalty conflicts, erosion of national sovereignty, and discriminatory enforcement.
The possibility also exists that sheriffs may adopt protocols that allow Israeli intelligence agencies direct access to local crime data under the guise of anti-terrorism cooperation, which would potentially expose private information of U.S. citizens without warrant or oversight.
CSPOA CEO Sam Bushman said via phone that he is not sure why an Israeli organization is training personnel in the US. He said he would tell sheriffs they have an allegiance to the law and their oath of office, should be wary about other agendas, and verify that any training by an NGO is compliant with the Constitution.
“I agree with Sam,” Mack said. “You have to be careful with that. All agencies, especially NSA, should be pushing constitutional training.” NSA’s Champagne said, “As sheriffs we are bound to abide by the Constitution but responding to disasters or processing crime scenes is not legalistic.”
ZAKA is tied to Israeli interests, and its mission is fulfilling the strict Jewish religious laws or halacha regarding attending to dead bodies. ZAKA claims to handle all human remains in accordance with Jewish law – even when the deceased is not Jewish.
ZAKA’s Reputation
ZAKA has come under fire for a number of its practices. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has accused ZAKA of mixing up remains of the dead and “negligence, misinformation and a fundraising campaign that used the dead as props.”
Journalist Max Blumenthal reports that ZAKA is “cashing in on its lies w/ $125,000 from Mark Zuckerberg and $2.1 million from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.” Blumenthal has also reported that “ZAKA’s founder, Yehuda Mashi Zehav, was known as ‘the Haredi Epstein’” because he raped children.
A ZAKA board member is suing the non-profit, accusing it of embezzling $26 million in donations. A ZAKA commander has been accused of stealing ancient Turkish manuscripts, and later attempted suicide. A ZAKA board member was responsible for a 1980s Israeli terrorist act. Another ZAKA board member was arrested, and was charged with a hate crime after going on a racist rant against a Palestinian vendor. He later got a plea deal.
Perhaps the National Sheriff’s Foundation should reconsider its relationship with ZAKA or be forced into bankruptcy, shut down and permanently barred from ever reopening.
Re-posted from source: Israel Palestine News
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