Two soldiers from the IDF's Golani Brigade, Staff. Sgt. Bar Yakubian, 19, and Staff. Sgt. Eshto Tespo, 21, who were killed in a car crash on Highway 6 on Tuesday, were laid to rest on Wednesday.
Yakubian and Tespo were part of a contingent of Golani soldiers that left the Shraga Base in the Western Galilee on Wednesday for the IDF Central Command's training base near Beit Gubrin in south-central Israel to prepare for operations in Judea and Samaria. The soldiers were traveling in a mini-convoy of three Hummer jeeps when the driver of a truck that was southbound alongside them struck all three vehicles. Yakubian and Tespo, who were reportedly riding in the back seats of the first and second jeeps, were both killed. Ten other soldiers were injured, one seriously.
An initial IDF investigation into the crash indicated that the soldiers had gotten about seven hours of sleep before setting out for Beit Gubrin and were driving in the right-hand lane. Some police officials believe that the truck driver – east Jerusalem resident Anwar Abu Zinad – failed to see them, ramming into the three army vehicles.
Abu Zinad has 115 driving violations on his record. Following the accident, he was sent for a blood test to ascertain whether he was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and the braking distance of his truck was also checked.
When questioned following the accident, Abu Zinad claimed that the soldiers had been stopped at the side of the road. The IDF denied the driver's version of the event and said that all three jeeps had been moving.
GOC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick has decided to set up a team of experts, headed by Col. Yair Natan, to investigate the accident. The Israel Police and the Military Police have also launched investigations into the incident.
Meanwhile, as Abu Zinad remains in police custody under the order of the Petach Tikva Magistrates' Court, some of the members of Tespo's Ethiopian community are outraged that the crash that killed him is being treated as a traffic accident.
"Showing up now and deciding that he was not an intentional terrorist attack is a sin. It's hard to believe this wasn't an intentional terrorist attack. The police must thoroughly investigate what happened," one of Tespo's relatives said.
