The ZAKA rescue and recovery service has dispatched a 10-person team to France to search for the head of the Defense Ministry mission in Paris, David Dahan, who disappeared in late January after leaving behind a suicide note.

French and Israeli officials are not discounting the possibility of foul play given the sensitive information to which Dahan had access as part of his job.

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"The French don't want the involvement of Israel, as a sovereign state, in the search, so as a compromise ZAKA, which is recognized by the United Nations as an international humanitarian organization, is being sent," said Yehuda Meshi Zahav, ZAKA's founder.

Dahan's car was found near the Seine river in the northern city of Rouen a few days after he was last seen.

ZAKA's team consists mainly of rescue divers.

"The team will make a concentrated effort to locate Dahan, including diving in the region where his car was found," Meshi Zahav said. Meshi Zahav told Haaretz that the Defense Ministry is paying for ZAKA's search mission, which is expected to cost about $80,000.

ZAKA, which is best known for its work recovering human remains at terror and accident sites in Israel, has for years assisted in international rescue and identification efforts, including after the September 11 attack in New York, the synagogue bombings in Istanbul and the tsunami in Southeast Asia.

The delegation to France is headed by the commander of ZAKA's rescue unit, Chaim Otmazgin, and the head of its Eilat diving unit, Ilan Berkovich.