ISRAELI FIREFIGHTERS, backed by aircraft and crews from many countries, spent yesterday trying to contain the massive blaze in the Carmel forest that has so far left 42 people dead.
By nightfall the blaze was still raging south of the northern Israeli port of Haifa, but officials were optimistic it would be brought under control later today.
About 17,000 people were evacuated from communities in the Carmel mountain range and some outlying suburbs of Haifa, the country’s third-largest city, although officials said the port – which is also the centre of Israel’s petro-chemical industry – was not in immediate danger.
Israel’s driest winter since records began and the continuing strong winds left the exhausted firefighters with a mission impossible. The best they could do was try keep the fire from engulfing towns and villages in the area.
The international community rallied to answer prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s desperate call for assistance. Firefighting aircraft and ground crews from Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Russia, Britain, Spain, Croatia, Romania, France and Azerbaijan all joined the effort yesterday to stop the blaze, the worst in Israel’s history.
Israel’s Arab neighbours Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority also sent crews, and Turkey, which was reportedly close to breaking off diplomatic ties with Israel earlier this year, was among the first countries to help, dispatching two firefighting aircraft.
Mr Netanyahu praised the international response to Israel’s call for help.
“The international answer to our call was outstanding, and the willingness to send help was also impressive, and it should bring comfort to all citizens of Israel.”
He had special praise for Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been a bitter critic of Israel over the last few years, telling him in a phone call yesterday: “We very much appreciate your help, and I am sure that this incident will offer an opportunity for improved relations between our two countries.”
Mr Netanyahu went to meet the Turkish firefighters as they worked alongside Israeli crews tackling the fire yesterday.
The cause of the blaze, which began on Thursday afternoon, is still unclear.
Police would not confirm that it began at an illegal rubbish dump. There was also speculation that arsonists were responsible.
One thing was certain: the fire services were woefully unprepared for a fire on this scale. Three years ago, Israel’s state comptroller issued a damning report on the firefighting services, warning that there was a disaster waiting to happen. However, little was done to rectify the situation.
Israel has no firefighting aircraft and fewer than 1,500 firemen – an extremely low ratio when compared to the overall population in most developed countries.
Israeli newspapers yesterday called for a commission of inquiry to be set up and there were also calls for the resignation of interior minister Eli Yishai, who is responsible for the fire services.
Ben Caspit, a columnist for the daily Ma’ariv newspaper, said the government was caught “standing before the flames, with its pants down”.
He noted that Israel is “a country above which hover spy satellites, a country to which foreign sources attribute chilling military operations around the globe, and a country that plans to attack the nuclear infrastructure of a distant regional power”.
Yet, he added, Israel “is also the country that has its firefighting material run out after seven hours and whose fire engines date back to the previous century”.
Other commentators raised doubts, in light of the inadequate response to the Carmel fire, over Israel’s ability to strike against Iran, bearing in mind that the likely response would be hundreds of rockets landing in Israel.