The Southern District Attorney’s Office is expected on Thursday to file an indictment against truck driver Michael Cohen, 58, a Haifa resident accused of killing 82-year-old Gabi Kamin by running him over. Cohen is currently suspected of murder through indifference, but questions remain about the exact offense prosecutors will allege.
At a remand hearing in Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court, Judge Yaniv Harush said the case materials appear to point to manslaughter by negligence. Because the indictment is set to be filed in Beersheba District Court, prosecutors may choose a more serious charge, such as killing through recklessness. In any case, the death of Kamin remains the same, and his family says they want the harshest possible indictment.
Investigators say Cohen, who has 65 traffic offenses on his record, arrived at the gas station in Moshav Nir Banim where Kamin worked. After an argument, Cohen threw chewing gum at the elderly man and got back into his truck. Kamin then stepped out with his mobile phone to film him. Their son, Yarden, said, “It is crazy that he is on the road,” adding that the case could have been prevented. Their daughter Sivan said her father went after him to record what happened and argued that the incident reflects a broader social problem, saying, “I think the whole country today is under the headline of ‘murder through indifference.’”
Kamin left behind five children, Tomer, Sivan, Moav, Yarden and Tali. His family said police have shared only basic details with them. They described him as a much-loved, active man who loved his family, preferred simple pleasures, and used to drive to Tel Aviv once a week in recent years to pick up his grandchildren from schools and kindergartens. Moav said he learned of the death only hours later, after a friend and then police alerted him and he went to identify his father at the scene.
