It is with great pride that I write that my county is home to one of the premier search and rescue units in the world, the Virginia Task Force 1. I recall that in the 1990s, this team of professionals was requested around the globe when a top-notch search and rescue team was needed. For the last several decades, I haven't heard much of their activity, to be honest, but I remember their glory days. That doesn't mean, of course, that they haven't been participating in their search and rescue missions. It's just that I haven't been reading about them (probably because we no longer have a community newspaper).
When it comes to requesting help from the Israelis, several factors come to mind for why we would reach out to them and their particular expertise. Without knowing details, I would expect that they have distinguished themselves in search in rescue just as they did in their response to the pandemic and in fighting terrorism.
Israel was among the leading countries to vaccinate most of their population early. I remember when we were looking enviously upon them many months ago. At least I was. I kept wondering how they were so organized and effective.
Do not forget that after 9/11, when we knew that we had to learn to protect ourselves from terrorists, we invited the Israelis to teach us how to screen incoming and outgoing airport passengers, etc. They were our expert tutors to prepare us for our new world.