Israeli Diving Federation

TIDF operates as a membership-based nonprofit organization for Israeli underwater activities. Its stated goals include developing and organizing research, training, diving, and underwater photography; providing a national framework for organizations in these fields; and representing Israel domestically and internationally.[1] It is a member of the World Underwater Federation (CMAS), serves as the organization's representative in Israel, and joined the European Underwater Federation in 2012.[2]

Sport diving in Israel began developing during the 1950s, when people who had dived during military service helped introduce the activity to the civilian population.[5] The first diving club in Israel opened in Eilat in 1960, followed by clubs at Sidna Ali and Jaffa.[6] The Israeli Diving Federation was formally established in 1966 by diving instructors, Israeli Navy veterans, and members of the Society for Underwater Archaeology, at a time when only two or three sport-diving organizations reportedly existed worldwide.[6][1]

Organized diving received a significant impetus after the Six-Day War, when divers discovered the Gulf of Eilat's dive sites and broader interest in the sport developed.[5] During the 1970s, the federation worked to establish scuba diving on a more systematic basis and began regular instructor-training courses.[1] The period was also characterized by a relatively carefree approach that contributed to numerous accidents, many along the Sinai coast. Diving there was regulated during the early 1970s, when the peninsula was under Israeli administration.[1] Toward the decade's end, the Recreational Diving Law was passed and TIDF was designated to enforce it, a role it held intermittently until 1997.[1]

During the 1980s, diving instruction, certification levels, and safety protocols became more institutionalized, while federation membership grew from hundreds to thousands. TIDF also published a handbook defining course standards and lesson plans.[1] Its institutional history describes the 1990s as a peak period in which more than 10,000 Israeli and foreign divers qualified at various levels each year and numerous dive shops opened. International certification agencies subsequently established Israeli offices, ending the federation's exclusive position as a certifying body.[1]

Before legislation defined its authority, the federation operated as an Ottoman association whose oversight arrangements were voluntary and not established in law.[5] Because membership was not legally compulsory, it lacked the power to impose supervision on unapproved diving schools or regulate equipment, air quality, and other services.[5] A Knesset legislative proposal sought to address this by designating the association as a competent authority with effective supervision and safety-enforcement powers, although the document describes the proposal's intent rather than proving the federation's eventual statutory standing.[5]

At the time of that legislative discussion, the federation was affiliated with an international diving federation headquartered in Paris and described as comprising more than 80 national organizations.[5] The association's certificates bore its emblem and were recognized by the international body and its members, with approximately 8,000 certified divers registered as association members at that stage.[5]

On November 14, 1990, director-general Amnon Sofer told the Knesset Education and Culture Committee that the federation's computer system listed about 22,000 divers, although only 15,560 had paid the relevant fee in the preceding year.[7] He reported 18 diving centers in Israel and eight additional centers in kibbutzim, as well as boats serving divers, with activity concentrated particularly in Eilat on the Red Sea.[7] The federation sought a revised fee structure because of pressure-chamber treatment and anticipated insurance costs; Sofer placed the treatment cost at US$700 per hour.[7] The committee approved the Sport Diving Regulations (Certificates) (Amendment), 1990 at that meeting.[7]

The government established a separate Sport Diving Authority within the Sports Administration in late 1997, and it began operating in early 1998. Its responsibilities include licensing instructors and centers, approving training programs, monitoring instruction and air quality, and enforcing diving law.[8] This government authority is distinct from TIDF, which continues to operate as a nonprofit certification and representative organization.

The Recreational Diving Law was enacted in 1979 and was followed by implementing regulations in 1980.[7] The resulting legal framework established formal requirements covering insurance, diving grades, and a minimum age.[6] Federation representatives appeared before the Knesset committee considering the rules and proposed lowering the minimum age, suggesting that a diving course could be treated as a bar mitzvah gift; the minimum was ultimately set at 12.[6]

TIDF's certification system is structured in star levels. One-star divers may dive to 20 meters when accompanied by a more highly qualified buddy; two-star divers may reach 30 meters with a buddy of equivalent grade; and three-star divers may dive to 42 meters with a buddy of the same level.[9] Children under 15 may not dive deeper than 20 meters.[9] The advanced Dive Master grade is also awarded by the federation. A 2021 advanced-depth course in Eilat involving divers with and without disabilities culminated in a dive to the 42-meter threshold as part of Dive Master training.[10]

As of 2006, the federation had 1,200 registered instructors, of whom 150 were active, and 30 diving clubs extending from Akhziv in the north to Eilat in the south.[6] TIDF has invested in Hebrew-language course literature, while its courses have been adopted by the Israeli Navy and are supported by professional literature in Hebrew, English, and Russian.[2] Most Israeli diving instructors have been certified either by TIDF or by organizations such as PADI and SSI, and the federation's locally written course materials have been described as well suited to Israeli students and diving conditions.[9]

In 2012, the federation invited independent auditors from the Austrian Standards Institute, representing the European Underwater Federation, to examine its training systems, equipment, and methods. After a week-long review, the auditors found the federation compliant with ISO standards; an auditor renewed its ISO certification in November 2017.[11] TIDF is also a CMAS member and serves as its representative in Israel.[2] It joined the European Underwater Federation in connection with receiving ISO certification.[11]

In 2011, the federation published a Hebrew manual about the Poseidon MkVI Discovery electronic closed-circuit breathing system. The National Library of Israel catalog identifies Shlomi Planitsky as its writer and Sefi Barry as its editor.[12]

One of TIDF's most distinctive contributions to Israeli diving has been the deliberate sinking of decommissioned vessels to create accessible dive sites along Israel's coastline. It has sunk ten vessels for this purpose and contributed to other sites, including submerged archaeological theme parks and the Sculpture Garden in Eilat.[1]

The first vessel sunk by TIDF was Ze'ev Hayam, a former training ship for cadets at the Acre Naval Officers School from 1979 to 1990. Federation volunteers spent weeks cleaning and preparing it to prevent marine pollution and make it safe for divers before it was scuttled in 1993, approximately 1.5 kilometers off the Jaffa coast, where the seabed is 32 meters deep.[13] In 1996, the federation sank the tugboat Hugla, followed by Sea Guard in 2000, both off Ashkelon at depths of 30 to 32 meters.[14] In 2011, TIDF acquired the decommissioned vessel Nitzan, cleaned it, opened passages between its compartments for diver safety, and sank it west of Nahariya near a rocky reef at a depth of 24 meters.[14]

Beyond wreck diving, the federation works with environmental bodies to conserve coral reefs and natural and artificial dive sites along Israel's coasts. It also organizes beach-cleaning and ocean-conservation activities in cooperation with other organizations.[1]

In 2001, the federation established the Underwater Sports Association within its organizational framework.[1] Its disciplines include aquathlon, or underwater wrestling, underwater swimming, orienteering, and underwater hockey. Its athletes are mostly teenagers who participate in international competitions.[1]

TIDF develops technical-diving and rebreather instruction and has created dedicated courses for divers with disabilities.[1] It organizes professional conferences and events for divers and instructors, as well as competitions and recreational events open to the wider diving community.[1]

Following the October 7, 2023 attacks and the evacuation of communities near the Gaza border, the federation worked with Eilat diving clubs and volunteers to organize scuba-diving and free-diving courses for displaced Israelis. Evacuees from Nir Oz and other communities participated, and psychologist Yotam Dagan helped mobilize the federation's training efforts.[3]

The federation's publications give conflicting figures for the number of divers certified through its courses since 1966. The English sport-diving page reports more than 200,000, while the Hebrew equivalent reports more than 120,000 for the same stated period.[2][4] The discrepancy remains unresolved. Historical Knesset figures—approximately 8,000 certified divers registered as association members during an earlier legislative discussion and about 22,000 divers listed in the federation's computer system in 1990—refer to different dates and differently defined groups and are not directly comparable.[5][7]