If you drink, do not drive - we all already know that.
But when it comes to the sea and the Sea of Galilee, where motorcyclists and boaters feel free to drink and sail.
The reason, the Ports Ordinance Act does not allow police officers to perform alcohol tests.
Soon this is expected to change.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) a bill is expected to be put to the Knesset for a preliminary vote, which will allow police officers to perform alcohol tests in water as well.
Corporal Walid Othman, commander of the Sea of Galilee Police, commented on the phenomenon and said: "I can say with certainty that in almost every accident in the Sea of Galilee the owner or those who spend time with alcohol in the boat.
There are young people whose boat does not go down to the Sea of Galilee without huge amounts of alcohol. "
Residents of the localities near the Sea of Galilee suffer greatly from the phenomenon.
Since the beginning of the corona plague, the number of people who spend time in the Sea of Galilee has increased significantly, and at the same time there has been an increase in demand for boats.
According to the bill, submitted by MKs from the New Hope Party, Zvi Hauser and Meir Yitzhak Halevi, at the initiative of the head of the Lower Galilee Regional Council, Nitzan Peleg, the maritime police will be equipped with owl devices and check the level of alcohol among the sailors.
Corporal Othman stressed that “this year there have been 11 accidents reported, but I know there are dozens of accidents that close on the beach without police involvement.
This is one of our biggest challenges, preventing the next accident as a result of alcohol.
Today I can not enforce it.
More than once we accompanied people to the beach and rescued from drowning drunks for whom the boat had escaped.
Under the new law I will be able to pour and confiscate alcohol, like on the beach.
This will provide an answer in terms of enforcement and indictments for sailing drunken vessels.
This is one of our biggest challenges: preventing the next accident as a result of alcohol.
"Today I can not enforce it."
The Ports Ordinance has not changed since the days of the British Mandate and was based on international treaty even before the entry of civilian vessels.
The old ordinance applies to drunken officers in the merchant navy.
But in recent years, the number of vessels on the shores of Israel has increased dramatically, especially in the Sea of Galilee, with an emphasis on fast vessels such as sea motorcycles and small motorboats, which approach the shore in a way that endangers the bathers.
A marine motorcycle towed after an accident with a motor boat on the Sea of Galilee, archive, Photo: Police spokeswoman
"Marine injuries start with a moderate level of injury and above," explains Dr. Eran Tal Or, director of the emergency department at Pada Poria Hospital in Tiberias, adding that "The jet covers the pelvic area and damages the internal organs. This type of injury can also end in death. In the past year, we have treated about 20 casualties, with the number of cases increasing in recent years."
Nitzan Peleg, head of the Lower Galilee Regional Council, who was one of the initiators of the law, said: "It is important to remember that these are the sailors themselves and the officers in the various vessels, and not all the beneficiaries of the vessels."
MK Zvi Hauser of New Hope said ahead of the preliminary vote that "drunk driving is a phenomenon that is expanding day by day.
The situation on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and on the shores of Eilat has become unbearable in recent years, with many motorboats and jet skis being a nuisance on the beaches and endangering the lives of bathers.
However, the naval police do not have the authority to act against drunken sailors, nor is it prohibited by law.
"In view of the national effort to combat the effects of violence and lawlessness, it is of public importance to clarify the urgency and priority of the fight against this phenomenon."
MK Meir Yitzhak Halevi said that "the maritime space has become the no-man's land of rioters under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and therefore the issue needs to be regulated."
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us
