More than 40 chareidi infants and toddlers died, and over 30 more were rushed to hospital in critical condition, over the course of a decade after staying in private care settings. Yet almost none of the cases led to a thorough criminal investigation.
The disturbing figures, raising numerous questions, were uncovered in a comprehensive investigation conducted by journalist Shira Elak for the Tikun Initiative and published Tuesday on Ynet.
Through a meticulous scan of sector news sites such as Kikar Hashabbat and local outlets, the journalist identified that between 2015 and 2025, more than 70 reports were published about infants and toddlers who died or were evacuated in critical condition after losing consciousness while in the care of babysitters, family daycare providers, and daycare centers.
The pattern repeats itself with chilling precision:
- February 2015 in Bnei Brak: an eight-month-old toddler was put to sleep at a caregiver's home and found unconscious.
- December 2017 in Beit Shemesh: an eight-month-old baby girl was found without a pulse at her caregiver's home, and resuscitation efforts failed.
- January 2019 in Modiin Illit: a nine-month-old toddler died after losing consciousness from choking in a family daycare.
- January 2023 in Jerusalem: an 18-month-old toddler died in Bayit Vegan after failing to wake from her nap at the caregiver's home.
- September 2024 in Bnei Brak: a 3.5-month-old infant lost consciousness at his caregiver's and his condition was defined as critical.
11 Criminal Cases out of 340 Infant Deaths
Official data from Israel Police logs reveal that between 2020 and 2025, 340 "death case" files were opened for infants up to one year old, an average of approximately 57 per year. In 2020, 42 files were opened; in 2021, 49 files; in 2022, 70 files; in 2023, 60 files; in 2024, 64 files; and in 2025, 55 files.
Yet of these, only 11 cases over six years became criminal investigations. Four were shelved, three for lack of evidence, one is in the process of being closed, three are still under investigation, two were transferred to the prosecutor's office, and only one reached a judicial decision. Of the 11 criminal cases, only one concerned a death at a kindergarten and one a death at a daycare.
At the Bnei Brak police stations, 14 death files were opened, and in Beit Shemesh 12 death files, but at both stations, no criminal cases were opened.
It is important to emphasize: crib death is a tragedy, a heartbreaking event where science doesn't always have the answers. But in the space between the private home and the public system, the term "crib death" has often become the "final station" of investigations that never began.
Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics and the Health Ministry show that each year, between 8 and 40 infants are defined as having died from "crib death." When examining the broader category of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI), the figure is approximately 50 to 70 infants up to one year old every year.
A 2022 State Comptroller's report determined that at least about 1,000 private daycare centers operate without any license or supervision.
In a separate case, at a daycare in Ariel, an indictment was filed against a director and two caregivers on suspicion of severe abuse of toddlers, after investigators reviewed 2,400 hours of security camera footage.
Chilling summary
As journalist Shira Elak sums up in the disturbing investigation for the Tikun Initiative, investigative journalism for the rehabilitation of Israeli society: behind every crib left empty lies a double abandonment. On one hand, a state that has retreated from its sovereignty and does not enforce the Daycare Supervision Law; and on the other, community leadership and activists who at times chose silence and image preservation over pursuing the truth.
