Fatal Car Crash Case Will Remain Closed, Despite Cover-up Allegations

The Tel Aviv District Attorney's Office on Sunday announced it would not reopen an investigation into a deadly traffic accident from 2005, despite a TV news segment aired Friday night on Channel 1 which raised allegations that the investigation had been covered up using family connections.

In July 2005, 16-year-old Gal Beck was fatally hit by a young woman's car while riding on his motorcycle in North Tel Aviv and he died shortly afterwards. The car driver claimed she had had a green light while Beck had entered the intersection with a red light, but according to the TV report, there were five eyewitnesses who claimed the opposite and whose testimony was not given much consideration, if any, by the State Attorney's investigation.

The Channel 1 report by Ayala Hasson and Yifat Glick also raised high doubts regarding another testimony, that of a cab driver who originally supported the woman driver's version but later changed her story in a secretly-filmed conversation.

Finally, the report stated that the woman driver was never given an alcohol test and implied that the decision to close the case so quickly, within less than two months, was related to the fact that the woman driver came from a well-connected, wealthy family.

The DA's Office claimed that the case had been closed due to lack of sufficient evidence. "In light of contradictory versions, it was impossible to disprove that the suspect had entered the intersection with a green light," said a statement. "It is nearly impossible to thoroughly complete an investigation after 10 years."

The woman driver's name has not been disclosed in formal media reports so far, but a simple search through social media can easily reveal her name and her pictures.