ZAKA and Or Yarok warn of rising bicycle fatalities in Israel

Ahead of International Bicycle Day, ZAKA and the Or Yarok road safety group released troubling figures on deadly crashes involving cyclists in Israel. The organizations said the numbers show a growing toll from a mode of transport that is becoming more popular but is also claiming more lives.

According to the data, 21 cyclists were killed in road accidents in 2025 nationwide, including 11 riders on regular bicycles and 10 on electric bicycles. That is two more deaths than in 2024. Looking at the past decade, from 2016 through 2025, 110 riders on regular bicycles were killed in traffic accidents, an average of 11 a year, roughly one a month.

ZAKA director general Rabbi Tzvi Chassid said bicycles, especially electric ones, are useful but can become dangerous when basic safety rules are ignored. “Every moment of inattention can end in a tragedy that changes entire families forever,” he said, calling on riders, parents, educators and decision-makers to increase personal responsibility, stay highly alert and enforce the rules firmly to save lives.

Or Yarok CEO Attorney Yaniv Yaakov said cyclists are a vulnerable group because they ride unstable vehicles along road edges beside trucks and buses. He said Israel “missed big” on regular bicycle infrastructure and should build urban bike lanes and safe riding areas on intercity roads. ZAKA spokesman Israel Chassid said volunteers repeatedly see the “hard and unimaginable scenes” at crash sites and urged the public to use proper protective gear, ride carefully and obey traffic laws to prevent the next disaster.