Kinneret searches
Kinneret searchesPolice Spokesman

On Saturday at around 7:15 pm, the police emergency 100 hotline received a call from a civilian on one of the Sea of ​​Galilee's beaches reporting youths drifting on a mattress far from shore.

A marine policing vessel sent to the scene spotted a 20-year-old Arabeh resident suffering from exhaustion. Forces drew him from the water shortly before he drowned.

A preliminary investigation of the young man revealed he was part of a group of three young men aged 20-21 from Arabeh who had entered the water on a mattress and drifted about 100-150 km from shore. One managed to return to the beach by himself, one was pulled out by Kinneret naval policemen, and one was still missing.

Large Israel Police forces conducted searches to locate the missing person during the evening and night hours.

This morning at dawn, water, air, and land searches resumed with participation of vessels from the Kinneret patrol, a helicopter from the police air force, a drone, horses, volunteers from the Northern Divers Unit, police patrols, Border Police, United Hatzalah volunteers, and sonar.