Just before stepping down after 10 years of service, Jonathan Thompson, the outgoing CEO of the National Sheriffs’ Association of the United States, recounted the difficult emotions he experienced following Hamas’s invasion of Israel and the massacres it perpetrated on October 7, 2023. To American Jews and Israelis, he has a clear message: “You will never be alone.” That pledge has taken a tangible form, with his association’s strategic partnership with ZAKA, created in the wake of Israel’s fight against Hamas.
Despite a routine filled with meetings with lawmakers, discussions on national security, and direct contact with 3,081 sheriffs, Thompson paused his packed schedule to reflect on his visit in an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post.
“I’ve had the best job in all of Washington,” he said, with a smile that expresses both humility and quiet personal pride. “I’ve been saying it for years, and it’s still true.”
Thompson was among the first law-enforcement officials to arrive in Israel in the weeks following Hamas’s attack – a visit that he said “changed my life.”
“It was an awakening, both emotionally and intellectually. [Sheriffs] are people who have seen everything – murder scenes, war zones, the collapse of communities. But what I saw in Israel – that was beyond anything I had ever seen.”
He recalled the first moment he encountered ZAKA, the search and rescue organization that hosted the delegation with ZAKA’s US director, Moshe Rosenberg.
“We stood in front of volunteers doing work that is almost impossible to describe, operating amid total destruction, out of commitment to human beings whom they did not know, facing horrors we never imagined could exist. We’ve been in many war zones, but this time it struck us in a way we did not expect.”
Thompson continued: “That was the first moment we understood that the two organizations had something to give one another. That’s when I met Dubi Weissenstern, CEO of ZAKA, whom I admire. His work, together with the quiet strength and faith that he and the members of ZAKA bring to the table, are values our sheriffs identify with.
“The power of faith is something that connects us,” he added. “The Israeli teams know how to operate in emergency situations at an extremely professional level, precisely because they are accustomed to this reality. ZAKA is an organization without equal, and it begins with the volunteers, the people themselves.
“Then comes the scientific expertise they have developed in forensic identification and the investigation of death scenes. They assist every person, of any faith, in real time. That is extremely rare. This is why they cannot be compared to any other organization.”
Alongside professionalism, Thompson emphasized what he describes as the core value of the partnership.
“Yes, there is professional knowledge and field skills. But there is something much deeper: respect for human life. Respect for those who are no longer among the living. Preserving civility even at disaster scenes. These are values every law enforcement officer must carry. They go hand in hand with everything we do,” he added.
Across the United States, Thompson noted, there is already broad adoption of processes and approaches drawn from ZAKA’s work. “Many agencies have begun incorporating ZAKA’s materials into their internal training programs. Seeing this is nothing short of immeasurable.”
Knowledge acquired in blood
International awareness of ZAKA has intensified since the war, but the organization’s accumulated expertise is also rooted in other disaster zones, including floods and earthquakes around the world – Japan, Turkey, Ukraine, and Texas.
During the recent floods in Texas, a ZAKA delegation was deployed and assisted using technological tools, together with experts from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, to analyze water currents in order to locate bodies. Alongside this, ZAKA’s ongoing day-to-day activity throughout the year involves the handling of thousands of bodies.
This professional expertise is expressed, for example, in the real-time handling of bodies during terror incidents while preserving the forensic integrity of the scene. Several elements represent the knowledge and capabilities that are consistently part of ZAKA’s operational arsenal: a desire to deepen connections with Jewish communities, become familiar with Jewish tradition, and address post-traumatic stress.
These are among the contributions ZAKA brings to the partnership, which includes exchanging knowledge to strengthen one another.
“We are building a fortress of trust. American Jews must know they will never be alone,” Thompson stressed. “Revulsion, anger, urgency – that’s what I felt on October 7. The United States will always stand with you.
“I speak about Israel out of a sense of personal responsibility. Law enforcement leaders in the United States will not sit on the sidelines. We are better and more prepared today than we were on October 7.”
He noted that the partnership with ZAKA is not merely a professional project. “It is a profound message to American Jews,” he continued. “The message is respect – respect for the community, for life. Law enforcement must listen to the communities that it serves. The partnership with ZAKA underscores this at the highest level.
“Jews have experienced immense suffering throughout history, perhaps more than any other people. This partnership says: You have allies. Together, we are building a fortress of trust and resilience against those who seek to harm or humiliate.
“I see a future full of promise. Antisemitism will not disappear; neither will anti-Zionism. But faith is greater than hatred. Always.”
This article was written in cooperation with the ZAKA Search and Rescue organization.