The Home Front Command delegation will help to map out the disaster site, identify victims and survivors and support local rescue forces.
By: JNS & WIN Staff
Israel has sent an elite IDF engineering team to Florida to help in recovery efforts following the collapse of a 12-story condo in Surfside, Florida on Thursday morning, as was reported by JNS.
The delegation will assist in rescue efforts by mapping out the disaster site, identifying victims and survivors and supporting local rescue forces, the military said in a statement. The delegation is being led by Col. (res.) Golan Vach, commander of the National Rescue Unit in the IDF Home Front Command, and includes Foreign Ministry representative Guy Giladi, Israel’s former Deputy Consul General in Miami.
The death count rose to 10 on Monday afternoon as another body was pulled from the rubble. There are close to 150 people missing following the collapse of the Champlain Towers South.
What led to the disaster is still unknown. A 2018 engineering report found “major structural damage” to a concrete slab supporting the building’s ground-floor pool deck, the AP reported on Sunday. The report warned that “failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially.”
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Saturday evening, conveying condolences on behalf of the Israeli public.
JNS reported that Israel stands by the U.S. at this difficult time, said Bennett, adding that everyone is praying for the well-being of the wounded. The premier added that he had instructed all Israeli government agencies to render whatever assistance may be requested.
World Israel News reported that after rescue crews combed through rubble of the Champlain Towers for four days, an Israeli cabinet minister dispatched to Miami expressed pessimism that any more survivors would be found.
Around 6,000 Jews live in the Surfside neighborhood of Miami. According to the Israeli consulate in Miami, more than two-dozen of the missing persons had Israeli citizenship.
“I say with regret, the chances of finding survivors is zero … I was on the site, it doesn’t look like anyone could survive,” Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai told Radio 103FM Monday morning.
Since Sunday, Shai has met with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida Senator Rick Scott, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, search and rescue teams, local Jewish leaders and other local officials. When he returns to Israel, Shai will present Prime Minister Naftali Bennett with plans for Israeli assistance to the stricken Jewish community.
Investigators don’t yet have answers as to why 55 of the tower’s 136 apartment units collapsed. Reports have raised an array of problems, including faulty waterproofing, cracked columns, and land sinking beneath the aging building. Kobi Karp, a prominent Miami architect and Israeli native told ABC News that the collapse likely resulted from “a collection of bad things.”
(JNS & World Israel News)
