Israeli diver still missing after extremely rare shark attack off coast of Hadera

An Israeli diver went missing after being attacked by at least one shark, and was still missing at the time of publication on Monday evening, as the search was called off due to nightfall.

The diver was attacked off the coast of the city of Hadera, at the Hadera Stream beach adjacent to the Orot Rabin power station, police and paramedics said.

Earlier Monday, the Hadera municipality’s Coastal Department said searches were conducted with jet skis, and onlookers filmed helicopters taking part in the searches. Patrols along the beach will continue overnight.

“If he wasn’t in a [diving] suit, this is where the problem starts,” Ziv Demeter, of the Magnus search and rescue organization, told Channel 12. “The body could be swept away and locating it could take hours or even days.”

דיווחים דרמטיים על צוללן שננשך ככה"נ על ידי כריש בחוף הים בחדרה. בנתיים הבחור לא נמצא. חיפושים כעת בחוף. ואווו pic.twitter.com/DfbABlFuj1

— שלמה ⛈️ מזג אוויר (@MezgAvirIL) April 21, 2025

The Interior Ministry has ordered the closure of the beaches at Mikhmoret, Beit Yannai, Na’urim as well as all beaches from Hadera to Netanya.

Over the past days, there have been several reports of shark sightings in the area. “This is a time when there are many dead fish in the water due to rising temperatures and rains that fell over the Passover holiday – which is the peak of the sharks’ feeding season,” explained Marine biologist Dr. Adi Barash.

“There’s no certainty yet about the species of shark involved in this case, but there’s a high likelihood that it was a dusky shark. Steps must be taken to avoid such interactions and to protect the well-being of the sharks – which are a protected species in Israel,” she added in a statement to Ynet News.

She added that in addition to the sea conditions making swimming dangerous, “the large number of people who came to the area created crowding around the sharks, which must not happen and can lead to attacks.”

Eyewitness Elia Motai told Ynet News: “I didn’t see much, just some blood. I was in the water, a few meters from here (the shore). It’s very scary. We came here yesterday and saw the sharks swimming right next to us.”

Another eyewitness, only identified as Shlomo, added: “I went to the beach with friends. We were about to go in when we saw someone thrashing in the water – we saw him struggling with a shark and trying to escape. The shark lunged at him. It was hard to watch. It was chilling, really terrifying. We could actually see the shark attacking him. I don’t understand how they haven’t closed a beach with sharks in it. That could’ve easily been me. All of us are traumatized.”