The price of breaking the rules: A father and his three children were evacuated from a closed hiking trail at the El Al stream in the Golan Heights after they ignored the heat index warning and the ban on entering the stream. Later, they received a fine of thousands of shekels.
The father suffered from heatstroke, and therefore, a joint rescue team, which included a Unit 669 helicopter and the Golan Rescue Unit, was called, in coordination with Nature and Parks Authority inspectors, to evacuate him.
Yehuda Weinberg, from the Golan Rescue Unit, noted: “This is an unnecessary endangerment of human life, which led to a complex rescue — both aerial and physical — by the rescue units and Israel Nature and Parks Authority inspectors. We found the father in a condition requiring an air evacuation. His children were instructed to leave the trail.”
Nature and Parks Authority inspector Georgy Norkin noted that due to the Meteorological Service's extreme weather warning, the authority published guidelines regarding hiking and closed dangerous trails. Norkin stressed that entering the trail clearly violated the guidelines: "These people unnecessarily risked their lives, despite the closure which was published at the scene and in the media.
After the rescue, enforcement action was taken against the hikers for failing to comply with the instructions of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and for entering a trail that was closed due to the extreme weather. Each of the hikers was fined 1,460 shekels.