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Israeli traffic fatalities at 309 in 2026, down 3%, watchdog says

Casualty tolls reflect ongoing Transportation Ministry failures, said Or Yarok, urging the adoption of a comprehensive multi-year plan.

Emergency personnel at the scene of a road accident in which a vehicle overturned near the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem, Sept. 4, 2026. Photo by Rachel Alroey/Flash90.
Emergency personnel at the scene of a traffic accident near the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem, Sept. 4, 2026. Photo by Rachel Alroey/Flash90.

A total of 309 people have been killed in road accidents in Israel since the start of 2026, a 3% decline from the toll recorded by the corresponding date last year, according to the Or Yarok Association for Safer Driving in Israel.

Eleven people were killed in road accidents over the past week, the organization said.

“More than 300 people killed in road accidents symbolize the major failure of the Transportation and Road Safety Ministry,” said Yaniv Yaakov, an attorney and CEO of Or Yarok.

“Under the Sheinin Plan, the State of Israel set itself a target of reducing the number of people killed in road accidents to fewer than 300 by 2015. In other words, more than a decade ago, we should have fallen below 300 deaths in a full year,” he said.

“This failure symbolizes government indifference to all of our lives on the road. The next government will have to make saving lives on the roads a top priority. Only approval of a multiyear national plan will return Israel to a course of a consistent decline in fatalities and prevent the sorrow and pain associated with this failure,” he said.

The government adopted the principles of the Sheinin Committee’s road-safety plan in 2005.

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