Suden death!

Sudden death in Israel doesn't only come from terrorism.  On the same day that two small children were tragically run over in Leeds, three women were killed in Netanya by a hit-and-run driver as they were on a pedestrian crossing at night.  They were Svetlana and Shoshana Yigudiyev from Dimona and Alexandra Rubinoff from Netanya.   In this case the car was so badly damaged that it was quickly abandoned and so the police were able to identify its owner and he was captured today.  His name is Shushan Baraby, a known small-time criminal, one of whose previous notable acts was to threaten the life of the Mayor of Netanya, Miriam Fierberg-Ikar.  In Israel this incident was on the front page of the newspapers, but in the US it would be considered a local incident.

There was also the terrible case in September last year of a beautiful young woman, Lee Zeitouni, who was joggin across the road in Tel Aviv at night and was hit by a speeding car.  The two occupants were French tourists who drove straight to the airport and flew back to France.  After an investigation the Israeli police requested their extradition, but the French refused, but said they would put them on trial in France.   As of now they are accused in a criminal case in France.

In fact there were a series of eight accidents and violent deaths in Israel last week listed in the Jerusalem Post (19 Aug, 2012), including cases of stabbings and fights and one Palestinian who blew himself up in a car (termed a "work accident").  Perhaps the most serious incident recently was the deliberate firebombing of an Arab taxi that was entering Israel Thurs night carrying a family of six.  Luckily noone was killed but several family members including children were hospitalized.  A group of Jewish extremists have been arrested for this incident. Note that President Shimon Peres and PM Bibi Netanyahu both condemned this incident as a "terrorist attack."  An Arab teenager was also badly beaten in Zion Square in Jerusalem over the weekend in a brawl with a group of Haredi youth, some of whom have been arrested. 

However, Israeli deaths due to terrorism (23 in 2011; 2 so far in 2012) are miniscule compared to the deaths due to traffic accidents (ca. 400 in 2011) and other causes.  So if you come to Israel be very careful walking and driving.  However, I have lived in Israel for 16 years and have never seen or been involved in a fatal traffic accident (am I tempting fate by writing that?).