Let's hope everything will be fine with the injured. And a big 'shkoyach' to the rescue services for immediately organizing proper rescue efforts. I'm sure we're more succesful than Egypt in this, at least.

Who needs terrorists when you have such bad Israeli drivers and a consistent lack of basic safety devices required in any western country.

Refua shlama to all the injured!!

We have so many troubles here to begin with! My thoughts are with all those and their families who are suffering! May the injured , please G-d, recover fully. This is bad bad news!

People drive like nuts down that road all the time. There are countless warnings to drive 55mph/90kph on that road and if you want more indications, there are tons of memorials along that highway commemorating people whose lives were cut short due to road accidents. A terrible tragedy yet again on this stretch of highway. Maybe someday they'll find he budget to make it 2 lanes on each side with a divider in the middle instead of 1 land with cars hurtling 70mph at each other from opposing directions. Craziness!!

What a terrible accident. Please G-d don't let this happen again. I can't imagine how the families of those involved in this event must feel - many probably do not even know yet. It's too early to lay definite blame, but according to the eyewitnesses it sounds like the egoistic, reckless, "bulletproof" israeli driving culture had a part in it. Let this be a serious lesson for all bus (and other) drivers - you're cargo is the most precious thing on this earth - human life... don't endanger it for the sake of gaining a few minutes on your journey. especially not in a place like the mountainous terrain of the southern negev!

A guardrail really wouldn't stop a bus traveling at full speed.

Impatient,always in a hurray.

How many people need to die needlessly before Israel realizes that she needs extremely strict driving laws? People here are maniacs on the road, ready to beat you up if you don't start fast enough from a light and passing you without regards for safety. Enough is Enough!!!

Just heard about it on Russian TV. Whole flight from Saint-Petersburg. Refuach shlema to all survivors.

Rather, they are deliberate risk-taking by drivers who deliberately break laws, knowing that deaths and injuries may result. This goes for bus drivers and private vehicle drivers on Israeli roads. All Israelis must have their driving licences taken away and re-train, under foreign, competent driving instructors.

"...Israeli drivers and a consistent lack of basic safety devices required in any western country." What makes Israel a western country? Is the West better than the East? Being from D.C. probably all of the Jews you know are Americans but here in Israel Anglos are the minority. Most Jews here are from the Middle East and those Ashkenazi Jews that didn't go to America and are here are from Eastern Europe/ Russia. Israel is in the Middle East, not the West, is a socialist state with some capitalist elements. Oh by the way, Judaism is a religion from the Middle East, not from the "West". Yes Israeli drivers are bad but do not lump Israel in with the West because Israel is anything but.

More "tourists" die from "accidents" in Israel then from "terrorists." This accident alone (25 deaths) killed 2X as many people as many as last year were killed (13 deaths). Doesn't that give a perspective...

seconds before the crash that a reckless driver had passed them on a sharp curve next to a steep downgrade. "Alon Peretz, an official of the private company that owned the bus, said that the driver of one group of tourists had phoned to inform him of another driver's reckless driving. "He said the other driver had passed his bus on a sharp curve and where there is a steep downgrade. "In the middle of the conversation, the latter bus careened off the highway as the driver tried to return to the right lane." http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128893 Doesn't this fit the usual pattern of "reckless driver" deliberately causing an accident?

Such a tragedy on the roads of Israel.

this madness. Reckless stupid behaviour is the norm. I know I am trying to wean two sons who spend way too much time in Israel. Its hard work trying to get that Israeli stupid factor out of them. It may take a generation

Growing up between Israel and the USA it always amazed me how Israeli Jews acted like race car drivers eager to pass anything on the road. They also use the same techniques when there is supposed to be a line you wait in. The Sabra driving system is simple, drive like you want to commit suicide every moment behind the wheel. Anytime I attend a meeting in Eilat I get a plane into the downtown airport. Even driving from the military airport is too dangerous and I never drive from central Israel to Eilat. That road has more wana-be Israeli race car drivers going for the land speed record than anywhere else in Israel. Did I mention all the Camels that cross the road? What an introduction to Israel for those unsuspecting Russians. May the survivors have a Refuah Shlema!

the driver if he's still alive,should be charged with murder.the laws in this country are very weak.drivers can kill at will,without fear of the law.god help us cos the courts ,and the law can;t.

Shame on you & all alike who are trying to make fun out of a tragedy like that!!! Very insenistive !! My deepest condolences to the victims & their families hoping fast & full recovery for the injured.

Mentality.This is not a matter of lack of driving skill but rather a crazy reckless mentality.Me a Freier? no way and I will overtake the vehicle ahead of me even if it kills me.Impossible to understand the mentality of those who write from right to left.

Like in military jets.

Israelis these days seem to act like jerks....sorry to say,anyway praying for a speedy recovery for the wounded...

The country is full of idiots on the road, inconsiderate, impatient, speeding, non adhering to following distances, changing lanes without signaling, etc etc, the list goes on,.....until there is a serious attitude change by everybody, this kind of mayhem will happen over and over.

I cannot recall how many times I was imperiled while driving in front of, or next to, buses in Israel where the driver was recklessly speeding or ignoring the safety of other drivers on the road. The narrow residential street I live on has Egged drivers speeding in excess of 80km/h downhill every 20 minutes. I even suspect I was the victim of an Egged "hit-and-run" accident, since their colours were on the side of my parked car early one morning. Likewise, the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway seems more like a demolition derby when there are buses to contend with. Perhaps it's time the Ministry of Transportation set up a hotline to report dangerous bus drivers and have them scrutinized before they endanger, or worse, more people. My heartfelt condolences to the victims, their families and survivors of this needless tragedy.

This is insane. Once again, the Israeli 'macho' won over common sense, and the result is the distruction of 60 human lives, forever. I just cannot, cannot, cannot, understand how such a driver, with these manuy prior traffic violations, be allowed to drive a bus.

With many violations would lose his license but this is Israel,they have a different way of thinking and it shows,for example the Maccabiah Bridge disaster ,the Versailles Wedding Hall disaster.A young country still learning and doing incredible things but still room for improvement ...on the roads etc.