Israeli Victim Killed in Moldova Will Be Repatriated Without Autopsy

After two days of intensive diplomatic and legal efforts in Moldova, the body of Akiva Rand, a Jerusalem resident in his 30s, was released without an autopsy. Rand was killed on Wednesday in a fatal car crash in Chisinau.

The Foreign Ministry, Israel’s embassy in Moldova and ZAKA’s international unit worked together to block the local authorities’ demand for a postmortem examination. Their efforts ended with approval to transfer the body to Israel for burial next week.

ZAKA volunteers operated at the crash site to treat the dead with dignity and collect evidence, while the organization’s team fought the Moldovan authorities and court system over the autopsy request. The body was ultimately released for burial in Israel.

Nachman Dikstein, commander of ZAKA Europe, thanked the Foreign Ministry, the Israeli embassy in Moldova and Chabad emissary Rabbi Mendy Axel for their around-the-clock help. “Thanks to the cooperation we were able to preserve Akiva’s dignity, prevent the autopsy of his body and bring him to Jewish burial,” he said. ZAKA operations chief Chaim Wingerter also thanked the organization’s legal department and activists in the United States who assisted in completing the mission.