Drownings prompt Knesset discussion

The Israeli government may be about to take Australian-style lifesaving practices more seriously in the face of an increase in drownings, with Knesset member Simon Davidson of the Yesh Atid party leading the charge.

That’s according to Sarah Vanunu, originally from Sydney, who is a board member of the Israel Lifesaving Federation and an active surf lifesaving instructor who has been instrumental in bringing Australian surf lifesaving techniques to Israel.

Davidson, a former swimming coach and a former chairman of the Israel Swimming Association, is a strong advocate for water safety and has been discussing potential solutions to the drowning crisis, including introducing swimming in schools and involving the Israel Life Saving Federation in educational programs.

Vanunu said, “There was an internal committee hearing at the Knesset in late July … where they were talking about solutions [such as] bringing the Israel lifesaving people into the schools because there are obstacles to jump through to bring us into the schools.”

She said she believes the concept of water safety is still relatively foreign in Israel.

“The colours of the flags mean nothing to people. I see people swimming, they see a black flag, oh, they’re going to go swim next to the black flags. It doesn’t register to them that there’s danger,” she said.

Vanunu insists that the need for better water safety in Israel is an urgent issue, with 273 kilometres of coastline, only 17 kilometres of which feature rescue services.

She said Israeli Arabs face particular water safety challenges, especially during Ramadan.

“It’s very popular in Jaffa and Tel Aviv that in the evening, they eat after sunset. They’re barbecuing at the beach, and they’ll go in for a swim in the evening. In the night-time, in the dark! There’s no supervision,” she said.

Vanunu together with fellow Aussie oleh and CEO of the Israel Lifesaving Federation Paul Hakim represented Israel at the 2022 Lifesaving World Championships in the Italian coastal city of Riccione.

The value of surf lifesaving in Israel was demonstrated recently when 18-year-old Ashi Hoppenstein rescued three teenage boys who were caught in a rip at Yanai Beach.

The co-instructor with the Tel Aviv Nippers group of children aged seven to 12 paddled out on his surfboard and shouted to the boys that they needed to swim horizontally out of the riptide and not against it. All three made it safely back to shore.