Jewish Agency envoy killed in Florida boating accident

Michal Elboim, 24, was due to return to Israel and start university.

By HAVIV RETTIG GUR
michal elboim 224 88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
michal elboim 224 88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
An Israeli woman was killed late Sunday in a boating accident in Pensacola, Florida, when she fell into the water and was hit by the boat's propeller. Michal Elboim, 24, was thrown into the waters of Perdido Bay, a waterway that divides northern Florida from Alabama, when the boat in which she was riding jerked suddenly. Her head hit the boat's propeller as she fell. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. Elboim had served for the past year in the Pensacola Jewish community as a Jewish Agency emissary and was planning to return to Israel in the coming weeks to begin studying at Ben-Gurion University, according to the family. Her family last saw her two months ago during a program that brought young American Jews to Israel. The family was notified of the death overnight Sunday, and officials from the local community, the Jewish Agency and the Israeli Consulate in Miami were working to fly Elboim's body to Israel for burial.