Aluf Benn writes:
The enormous blaze that broke out on the Carmel will be remembered as the Yom Kippur War of the Fire and Rescue Service, who were not prepared to counter a disaster of such magnitude.
Yesterday it turned out that Israel is not prepared for war or a mass terrorist strike that would cause many casualties in the home front. The warning of the outgoing Military Intelligence Chief, Amos Yadlin, that the next war will be a lot more difficult than past experiences, and that Tel Aviv will be a front line, was not translated into the necessary preparation by the authorities assigned the protection of the civilians.
Under such circumstances, it is best for Israel not to embark on war against Iran, which will involve thousands of missiles being fired on the home front.
After the Second Lebanon War, which exposed how pathetic the civil defense system was, reports were written, exercises were held, but everything broke down under the stress of a real emergency on the Carmel range − an area that already experienced the trauma of Hezbollah missiles.
Yesterday Israel asked for help from Cyprus and Greece, and the air force traveled to France to bring fire retardants to make up for the material that had run out. In war time, it is doubtful whether Israel will be able to rely on the generosity and largess of its neighbors.
Joseph Dana adds:
Despite Israel’s international call for aid to help fight the raging wildfires in the north of the country, the Israeli army had plenty of extra soldiers to suppress the weekly unarmed demonstrations in Nabi Saleh, Ni’ilin and Bil’in. Instead of diverting all available resources to suppressing the fire, the government continued to devote resources to suppressing Palestinian non-violence in the West Bank. Even American neoconservative pundits have taken note of Israel’s reckless policy of resource management as displayed with the wildfire crisis. How long will the international community support these reckless decisions by the Israeli government? Why would the Israeli government make the decision to provoke unarmed Palestinian demonstrations with the negligent use of rubber bullets and tear gas at a time of national crises?
360 fighter jets with which to attack Palestine and other countries and not a single fire fighting plane?
This is the kind of stupidity born from the zionist mentality.
I guess now Israel will call Mother nature an existential threat, put her on the terrorist list and demand the US destroy her.
Israeli strategists are as incompetent as the North Americans goons.
RE: “Despite Israel’s international call for aid to help fight the raging wildfires…the Israeli army had plenty of extra soldiers to suppress the weekly unarmed demonstrations…” – Joseph Dana
MORE KINDLING FOR THE TINDERBOX: GOD-TV evangelical Christian channel funds Israeli ethnic cleansing ~ By Neve Gordon, Redress, 12/04/10
Neve Gordon looks at how an evangelical Christian TV channel with a viewership of nearly half a billion people, including 20 million in the USA and 14 million in Britain, is funding a project to ethnically cleanse Israels Bedouin citizens from their ancestral land.
ENTIRE ARTICLE – http://www.redress.cc/palestine/ngordon20101204
Karma. This has shown the Israeli priorities. Will it be a wake up call to the leaders? We shall see, though I doubt it. They have drunk of the koolaid, they are committed to their own folly & ultimate destruction. What goes around, comes around. The leadership uses their own citizens as shields, not caring, which is sad.
“Why would the Israeli government make the decision to provoke unarmed Palestinian demonstrations with the negligent use of rubber bullets and tear gas at a time of national crises?”
Because this is all ‘normal’ behaviour by the government of a country that is in the process of destroying itself from within.
Is the current U.S. Government all that far behind?