Bnei Zion pre-military academy
Photo: Motti Kimchi
Pre-military academy to temporarily close after flash flood disaster
Joint Council of the Pre-Military Academies decides to close Bnei Zion a month and a half after 10 teens were killed in a flash flood during a trip organized by the school; father of alumni says decision is unfair on teens who signed up for next year.
The Joint Council of the Pre-Military Academies decided Thursday to temporarily close the Bnei Zion pre-military academy, a month and a half after 10 teens
were killed in a flash flood
during a trip organized by the school.
"The council sees great value in the continued operations of the Bnei Zion pre-military academy as part of the pre-military academies enterprise," the council said in a statement.
It said it offered to help Bnei Zion in rebuilding itself following the disaster "in a transparent and public process that the council would take part of."
Bnei Zion pre-military academy (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
"We believe the academy should not be reopened before the completion of this process," it said.
Gabi Barshishat, a father of one of the academy's alumni whose daughter is supposed to attend the school next year, rejected the council's decision.
"The Joint Council of the Pre-Military Academies is not a body that gets to decide whether to close the academy or not," he said. "To me, it's clear this academy is not closing. There are 30 kids who registered to this academy even before the disaster. Trying to close the academy would be a catastrophe."
"There's no reason to close the academy and punish the children, who are definitely not at fault," the father continued. "They postponed their military service, gave up on positions in the army—some very meaningful roles."
"This decision is not wise, it would traumatize children who feel part of a group," he concluded.
The 10 teens killed in flash flood disaster
After the disaster at the Zafit Stream, a special investigations team was established, which questioned several of the academy's staff, including its principal Yuval Kahan, who was arrested along with one of the instructors.
The instructor, Aviv Bardichev, is suspected of manslaughter, while the principal is suspected of negligent homicide.
Manslaughter attributes the results of an offense to indifference or recklessness, while in negligent homicide cases, the suspect is believed to not have been able to foresee the outcome.
Bardichev is suspected of deciding to go ahead as planned with the trip despite warnings of flooding in the area. He is also suspected of being the one to organize the trip.
