IDF unit — Search and Rescue / Palchatz (חילוץ והצלה, פלח"ץ) of the Home Front Command (פיקוד העורף): role, profile 72, training, women, international missions, olim

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Front_Command; https://draftidf.co.il/units/ (requirements) · 2026-09

What it is

The Home Front Command (Pikud HaOref) is responsible for protecting Israel’s civilian population — alerts, shelters, civil defence — and its Search and Rescue Brigade is the combat arm: five regular battalions (Kedem, Shahar, Ram, Ari, Tavor) trained to rescue people from collapsed buildings after missile strikes, earthquakes and disasters, handle hazardous materials, and, in routine times, carry out border and Judea & Samaria security like light infantry. The National Rescue Unit and the brigade’s delegations are the teams Israel sends abroad — Haiti 2010, Nepal 2015, Surfside (Florida) 2021, Turkey 2023. Since 2023 the battalions have also fought in Gaza. Beret: orange — the international rescue colour.

Requirements

• Medical profile: minimum 72.
• Gibush: none — request on the manila.
• Hebrew: no formal score; olim with 6 or below do Michve Alon first.
• Gender: mixed — men and women serve together as combat soldiers.

Path in and training

1. List Chilutz veHatzala / Palchatz on the manila.
2. About 4 months basic infantry training + ~3 months advanced: infantry skills and weapons, plus rescue engineering — cutting, lifting and shoring in collapsed structures, rope work, casualty extraction, hazmat/CBRN, and working with heavy engineering equipment. Ends with a beret march and the orange beret.
3. Operational service alternates between security deployments (borders, Judea & Samaria) and rescue readiness, with call-outs to real incidents (building collapses, missile strikes).

Service length

• Men 32 months; women in the combat track 32 months.
• Olim arriving at 22–27 who volunteer for combat: 24 months (men) / 32 months (women).
• Reserve duty afterwards — S&R reservists form the core of the disaster delegations.

For olim

• A combat unit that accepts a 72 profile and women, with a clear humanitarian mission — popular with olim who want combat service without front-line infantry, or who have a profile that rules infantry out.
• The rescue qualifications (urban search and rescue, hazmat) are useful for civilian careers in emergency services, engineering and security.
• Bases are in the south and centre; many lone soldiers serve here.
• Olim with English or other languages are useful on international delegations, which work alongside foreign rescue teams.

Contacts

• Meitav: 1111 · Lone Soldier Hotline: *6563
• NBN Lone Soldiers Program: army@nbn.org.il