Singer Gidi Gov indicted for drunk driving over Tel Aviv car smash

Performer, 75, admitted to having had a couple of shots of whiskey; charged with being under the influence and driving without a valid license or insurance

Popular singer, actor, and television host Gidi Gov was charged on Wednesday for driving under the influence when he caused a multi-car accident two months ago on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway, which lightly injured five people.

Gov, 75, was additionally indicted for reckless driving and driving without a license or insurance. His license had expired a few months before the September 16 accident, according to Hebrew media reports.

Prosecutors said in the indictment that the “danger of his driving is clear from the serious outcome of hitting eight vehicles.”

The charge sheet noted that after hitting the first vehicle, Gov allegedly continued to drive, straying from his lane.

It said that Gov admitted to drinking two shots of whiskey before getting behind the wheel, and that he claimed he had confused the gas pedal for the brake. A breathalyzer test found him to be well over the legal limit.

Police asked that he be barred from renewing his license until the end of the proceedings.

A vehicle is seen damaged, next to an ambulance, after a car accident in which Israeli singer Gidi Gov was involved, on the Ayalon Highway, September 15, 2025. (Magen David Adom)

Channel 12 reported that three days after the accident, Gov appeared at a performance in the Ghetto Fighters Kibbutz and publicly apologized for the accident.

According to Hebrew media, Gov was returning home from a private concert for Microsoft employees ahead of the Jewish New Year when, at about 1 a.m., he lost control of his car and hit the other vehicles.

The singer was detained for questioning and later released under restrictive conditions.

An eyewitness to the incident told the Israel Hayom daily: “I was on my way home. Every lane on the Ayalon was jammed because of roadworks.

“After it was opened up for us to drive, I suddenly saw a car starting to run into all the other vehicles there. He lost control; I don’t know what exactly happened.”

Then, he said, Gov “got out of the car. He didn’t look drunk, just very much in shock. He just stood there to the side and looked. I didn’t recognize him at the time of the accident; afterward they told me it was the singer.”

Gov, a prominent musician, actor, and TV personality, is known as a founding member of the band Kaveret, as an actor on the long-running skit show “Zehu Zeh,” and for his extensive solo music career.