Fugitives Cannot Escape Financial Responsibility for Search and Rescue Costs

The expense incurred by authorities in searching for Mali and Liel Yehalom has been enormous, with costs mounting as rescue operations have continued across multiple locations. The case raises important legal questions about whether individuals who flee and trigger large-scale search efforts bear any financial or legal responsibility for the expenses they generate. Legal experts suggest that if the pair were aware of the scale of the search operation being conducted, they may have had a specific legal obligation known as ‘duty to mitigate damages’ — requiring them to take reasonable steps to reduce the harm and costs resulting from their actions. This principle, established in law across many jurisdictions, holds that even those with legitimate grievances cannot simply allow preventable expenses to accumulate without attempting to minimise them. The fundamental issue at stake is whether the public purse should bear the full cost of extraordinary search and rescue operations when those costs might have been significantly reduced had the fugitives made themselves available or communicated their whereabouts to authorities. Advocates for accountability argue that establishing some form of financial responsibility would not only reflect basic principles of fairness but could also serve as a deterrent against future cases where individuals flee in ways that necessitate costly emergency responses.

Source: Ynet — Original article in Hebrew.