School principals convicted of negligence in Nahal Tzafit disaster

Nearly seven years after a fatal incident during the Bnei Zion pre-military program’s journey to Nahal Tzafit Gorgein which ten students died in a flood, several staff members have been convicted of negligence, Israeli media reported on Sunday morning.

Bnei Zion’s directors, Yuval Kahan and Aviv Berdichev, were convicted of ten offenses of causing death by negligence, as well as two additional counts of injury by negligence.

These allegations are in contrast to the original case, in which the directors were charged with reckless homicide, Israeli media reported.

On April 26, 2018, on the second day of a planned nature trip, disaster struck when student travelers were caught in a deadly flood in the south Dead Sea area.

Students who died in a flood during a school trip in 2018. (credit: Walla)

The group entered a stream and continued their route despite the onset of rain. The group continued on their planned route, but was hit by flooding about 30 minutes later as they reached the canyon.

Wrong preparation

The team organizing the outing had made special preparations in advance due to dire warnings for fear of flooding in the travel area.

Kahn and Berdichev, who were in charge, were reportedly informed of the impending danger through warnings before and during the journey. The two had received repeated warnings, Israeli media reported, yet the two did not cancel the trip to this specific area.

The judge said on Sunday morning that the two took unnecessary risks that led to the disaster, knowing that they had been repeatedly warned of the future risks. N12 reported that Kahn had even lost contact with the group on the day of the disaster and had not been contacted about travel updates.

Kahan cut off contact with the group and did not bother to receive updates on the route.