Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Israeli Vacationer Missing After Hippo Attack on African Safari

An Israeli attorney on vacation with his family in the southern African nation of Zambia is missing after a hippopotamus flipped over the boat he was riding in with his children.

Israeli media are reporting that Aviyam Yariv, 39, the son of Israeli editor and model Hilit Yeshurun, was likely attacked by hippos and alligators in the Zambezi River, which separates Zambia from Zimbabwe.

Yariv’s two children were able to make it to shore; he reportedly was not wearing a life jacket.

Yeshurun has arrived in Zambia to help search for her son. The Israeli consul to Nairobi in Kenya, the closest diplomat to the incident, also has arrived to assist in the search, Ynet reported.

The Zambezi is one of the most picturesque rivers in Africa and teeming pods of hippos fill the shallow water. Lions peer from the banks and giant herds of game live on remote islands.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.