Israeli Police have identified the victim of the Ein Gedi flash-flooding as David Tauber of Brooklyn, New York. He had driven to the Ein Gedi from Yerushalayim with his wife, Heather, who was rescued after an extensive helicopter search.

David Tauber was the cantor at the North-Shore Synagogue of Syosset, Long Island for the past few years. He was with his wife on a trip to Israel as part of a program run by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Heather Tauber works for the Conference as meetings coordinator. Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents, said: “This is tragic. I don’t know if warnings were issued. They drove down there yesterday with another group.”