There is no dispute that the term "sinkhole" was not explicitly defined in the policy, but rather it was written "the institutes".
Definitions of "sinkhole" according to the parties' experts
- 0013. According to Media Maven, according to the expert opinion of Dr. Moshe Yarkoni, a geologist on its behalf, a sinkhole according to the American Geological Survey is "a sinkhole or hole on the surface caused by the collapse of the surface into underground cavities, usually due to the dissolution of soluble rocks: dolomite limestone or evaporite rocks such as salt, gypsum. The main phenomena of sinkhole development occur in karstic areas (karst). And it is caused mainly by natural melting related to groundwater flows or a change in the water regime...". Similarly, media expert Maven states that the British Geological Survey defines a sinkhole as "the natural subsidence of the soil due to the collapse of underground cavities or the dissolution of limestone/salt layers." Dr. Yarkoni expressed his opinion that the collapse of the soil in our unfortunate case is not a sinkhole according to a geological definition, and this is unequivocally.
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Dr. Yarkoni clarified that the geological and geoengineering conditions at the site of the accident in the settlement of Karmei Yosef do not allow the development of natural sinkholes in the bedrock belonging to the Adulam Formation. In his opinion, the failure that occurred in the swimming pool was not a sinkhole, but rather the result of a piping process caused by a prolonged leakage of water from the pool, which washed thin materials out of the fill body on which it was built. This washing created a growing underground cavity - inside an existing cave whose fillers were washed away - until the pool's concrete floor collapsed into the open pit.
Dr. Yarkoni based his opinion on the analysis and processing of regional geological information from professional literature, and on his accumulated personal experience from various works he carried out in the settlement of Karmei Yosef and its surroundings between the years 2000 and 2024, and on professional documents made available to him, such as the amended statement of claim dated July 26,2023 and a safety opinion dated May 20,2025. In addition, he relied on a visit he made to the site on July 10,2025, in which he examined the bottom of the pool and the slope. In order to classify and define the sinkhole, Dr. Yarkoni used customary rock mass classifications and definitions from leading geological institutes from Israel and around the world.