EMBARRASSED ISRAELI officials have been forced to cancel a ceremony honouring Palestinian firefighters who helped tackle the recent forest blaze that raged in northern Israel, after some of the men were turned back at an Israeli checkpoint.
Ahmed Rizik, the Palestinian Fire Services chief, was informed at the West Bank crossing that only seven of the 11 men would be allowed to cross into Israel due to “security considerations”.
The firefighters turned back, causing the cancellation of the ceremony at the Druze village of Usiffiya, one of the areas hit by the worst forest fire in Israel’s history that left 43 people dead.
An angry Palestinian Authority issued an incredulous statement. “It’s not clear how the same firefighters who got permits to go out and help extinguish the fire are now refused permits to a ceremony honouring their efforts. We did this despite the occupation because it was our humane duty.”
The Israeli military has blamed a “bureaucratic error” and Israel’s co-ordinator of activities in the territories has apologised to the Palestinians, promising that a new date would be set for the ceremony.
Four Palestinian fire engines drove for five hours from the West Bank to the Carmel mountain range, south of Haifa, to join efforts to extinguish the blaze.
The gesture followed an appeal from prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu for international assistance. The Palestinian firefighters featured prominently in Israeli media coverage of the blaze.
Mr Netanyahu phoned Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to thank him for the gesture, which came despite continuing tensions in relations.