The crash scene; Photo credit: Magen David Adom Spokesperson’s Office

Sunday, November 15, 2026, 8:06 In February 2025, Rabbi Yishai David Bishitz, z”l, was killed in a fatal road accident near Beit Kama. He taught at Yeshivat Eshtemoa and at Yeshivat Gimzo, and was a father of eight. An Arab truck driver failed to maintain a safe following distance, attempted a dangerous overtaking maneuver, struck Bishitz’s car, and crushed it between the truck’s wheels and the rear of a bus that was stopped ahead, killing him.

Approximately six months after the crash, the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office informed the family that it was closing the case, citing “insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges.” Honenu Attorney Chaim Bleicher, who is representing the family, filed an appeal with the State Attorney’s Office against the decision and requested that the investigation be reopened.

In the appeal, based on the investigation materials, Bleicher argues that the truck driver’s guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt. According to the traffic examiner’s own conclusions, the driver was operating a loaded truck that had left a quarry in Meitarim. He failed to keep a safe distance and began a dangerous overtaking maneuver only seconds before the collision—the action that caused the accident.

The truck’s tachograph (a device that automatically records speed, distance, and the driver’s working, driving, and rest hours in real time) shows the vehicle accelerating from 61 km/h to 80 km/h during the overtaking, then dropping sharply to 19 km/h at the moment of impact.

The truck driver also gave a false account in his police interview. He claimed that Bishitz’s car first hit the bus ahead and that the truck only struck the car afterward. All other testimonies from those involved, however, state that the bus sustained only a single impact—when Bishitz’s car was crushed into the stopped bus by the truck.

At the end of the appeal, Attorney Bleicher writes: “According to all the findings and testimonies, and given that the bus received only one impact from the rear, there is no other possible conclusion than that the truck’s collision with the late driver’s car caused his death as a result of the truck driver’s actions and failures.” He adds: “How can the prosecution close a case like this without filing charges? How will we be able to look the orphans in the eye?”

Honenu Attorney Chaim Bleicher stated: “Unfortunately, there is a strong sense of under-enforcement even in cases involving life-threatening driving offenses that result in severe loss of life. This was an extremely serious accident in which a truck crushed a family car and left the driver no chance of survival. The truck driver’s claim that there had been a prior collision ahead of him is a futile attempt to conceal his own actions, contrary to the evidence. It is therefore puzzling that the prosecution accepted this version despite the findings, and even more puzzling that the case was closed without any indictment at all, given that the truck driver’s responsibility remains clear even after his false account.”