Samaria Council Head Yossi Dagan on Monday blamed Transport Minister and Labor Chair Merav Michaeli for a lethal crash involving an Arab-driven truck and an Israeli at the Rechelim intersection near Ariel in which a woman, 30, was killed, and her eight-year-old daughter is in serious condition. A man, 30, suffered moderate injuries and two others were lightly injured.
United Hatzalah medics Hanan Afik and Emanuel Tamm reported: “This was an accident involving two vehicles and a truck. Unfortunately, the death of a 30-year-old female driver was determined. With the help of IDF medical teams, we provided first aid at the scene to a 40-year-old man who was moderately to severely injured, an 8-year-old girl who was seriously injured, and a one-year-old boy who was light to moderately injured. The truck driver and a passenger who was with him in the truck were treated for minor injuries and evacuated by the Red Crescent.”
“This serious accident could have been avoided,” said Dagan, adding, “For years, we shouted and worked to have this location be defined as a risk center, with transportation investment that would prevent the accidents that already happened here and the accident that happened here today.”
According to Dagan, as soon as Transport Minister Merav Michaeli took office, she stopped the budgets of many projects in the liberated territories, including the project to regulate the Rechelim intersection, “and only after more than a year of effort were we able to get the work started.”
“This accident should not have happened,” he said.
“The government treats Judea and Samaria residents as second-class citizens in the State of Israel, there are not enough police officers here for law enforcement, certainly considering the barbaric behavior of many in the Palestinian Authority. There’s under-budgeting of road projects where both Jews and Arabs travel,” Dagan complained.
“This accident could have been avoided,” Dagan reiterated. “This government does not count Judea and Samaria, this government hurts us and we pay with our blood in car accidents, and it costs us the blood of those killed in terrorist attacks. This accident could have been prevented. The chaos caused by the transport minister and her entire staff could have been prevented.”
“We will accompany the settlements and the families in these difficult times, we will pray for the healing of the wounded and cry out against this injustice,” Dagan said.
