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1. Identities, Funeral Times of Fire Victims Released
by Chana Ya'ar
Identification of the bodies of the victims who died in the wildfire that raged through Mount Carmel last Thursday has been completed and the names released for publication.
The photo that accompanies this article is one that was taken at the
Western Wall in Jerusalem, and is a shot of the most recent class of the
Israel Prison Service cadets. Most of the members in the photo were
victims of of the tragic wildfire that continues to rage in various
areas of northwestern Israel.
Following are the times and locations of the funerals set for Sunday:
Shimon Dayan, 28, of Karmiel, is survived by his wife. He served in the
Nachshon unit and will be laid to rest Sunday at 13:00 in the military
cemetery in his city.
Derman Kiril, 28, of Afula, is survived by his wife. He served at the
Gilboa Prison. His funeral will be held Sunday at 12:00 noon at the
military cemetery in Afula.
Tanya Lansky, 23, of Ashdod, served in an unidentified prison. Her
funeral will be held at 1:00 p.m Sunday at the military cemetery in
Ashkelon.
Avi Noach, 34, of Jerusalem, is survived by his wife and two children.
He served in the Jerusalem detention facility and will be laid to rest
at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the military cemetery at Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem.
Elad Riven, 16, a volunteer in the Fire Service, the only child of his parents, will be laid to rest in Haifa at 12:30 PM.
Below are the names of those who have already been interred:
Tafash A'adel, 33, of Beit Jan, is survived by a wife and two children. He was laid to rest Friday at the cemetery in Beit Jan.
Wassim Abu-Reish, 28, of Yarkha, is survived by a wife and three children.
Wasim Abu Rish, 32, of Kfar Yarka, served in the Rimonim Prison. He was laid to rest Saturday in the cemetery in his village.
Warden Rafi Alkalai, 54, of Lapid, is survived by his wife and five
children. He served at the “Nir” school as a commander of the Officers'
Course. He was laid to rest at Jerusalem's military cemetery at Mt.
Herzl.
Inbal Amoyal, 26, of Dimona, is survived by her parents and four
siblings. She had just finished a Master's degree in Criminology and
looked forward to serving in the nation's security force like her
brothers. She served in various prison facilities and was laid to rest
in the military cemetery in Dimona.
Anonymous, at the request of the family.
Ayala Yifrach, 23, of Kiryat Bialik, served in the Kishon Prison. She was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Haifa.
Yaron Bermi, 31, of Mevuim is survived by his wife and one child. He
served at the Dekel Prison and was laid to rest at the military cemetery
in Be'er Sheva.
Ro'i Biton, 28, of Kiryat Gat, is survived by his wife who is eight months pregnant and a young son.
Warden Faviola Bohadana, 48, mother of two, of Ness Ziona. She served
as company commander of the Officers' Course in the “Nir” school, and
was laid to rest in the cemetery in Ness Ziona.
Police Dep.-Comdr. Lior Boker, 57, Northern District Operations Branch commander, promoted posthumously to Assistant-Commander.
Maor Ganon, 27, of Gan Yavne, married with one child, was a member of
the Nachson unit. His funeral was held Friday at the military cemetery
in Yavne.
Dimitry Gerstein, 27, of Tel Aviv, served in the Nachshon unit. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Holon.
Hagai Jorno, 28, of Kiryat Gat, survived by his wife and young
daughter, was laid to rest in his city's military cemetery on Friday.
Calai Chen Kefir, 35, of Gan Yavne, is survived by his wife and three
children. He served in the Logistics Department at Israel Prisons
Service Headquarters. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in
Gan Yavne.
Efrat Chen, 35, of Ra'anana, served in the Neve Tirza Prison for women.
She was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Ra'anana.
Topaz Even Chen Klein, 28, of Rehovot, served in the Office of the
Spokesperson. She is survived by her husband. Her funeral was held
Friday at the military cemetery in Rehovot.
Dimitry Kozlov, 45, a resident of Be'er Sheva, is survived by his wife
and one child, served in the Ketziot Prison. His funeral was held at the
military cemetery in Be'er Sheva.
Aviram Levy, 32, married, of Tiberias, is survived by his wife and one
child. He served in the Nachshon unit. He was laid to rest in the
military cemetery in Tiberias.
Maurice Levy, 32, single, of Tiberias, served in the “Nir” school. His funeral was held in the military cemetery in Tiberias.
Calai Chen Kefir, 35, of Gan Yavne, is survived by his wife and three
children. He served in the Logistics Department at IPS Headquarters. He
was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Gan Yavne.
Iliya Langman, 31, of Nahariya, served in the Kishon Prison and is
survived by his wife. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in
Nahariya.
Uriel Malcha, 32, of Karnei Shomron, is survived by his wife and five
children. He served at Oholei Kedar Prison and was laid to rest at the
cemetery in Yavne. “He was a devoted family man, virtuous, and just a
great human being,” his friends told Arutz Sheva's Hebrew news service.
Police Ch.-Supt. Yitzchak Melina, 46.
Kfir Ohana, 30, of Ofakim, served at the Oholei Kedar prison. He is
survived by his wife Olga, who is nine months pregnant, and a 2-year-old
daughter. His funeral was held Friday at the military cemetery in
Ofakim.
Hanan Ohayon, 31, married, of Nazareth Illit, is survived by his wife
and two children. He served in the Shita Prison, and was laid to rest in
the military cemetery in Nazareth Illit.
Ronen Peretz, 34, of Ashkelon, married, survived by his wife Shirit and two young children ages 6 and 3.
Hagai Pinkar, 31, of Yerucham, is survived by his wife and a child. He
served in a prison. His funeral was held late Saturday night at the
military cemetery in his city.
Oshrat Pinto, 26, of Tzfat, was laid to rest in that city's military
cemetery on Friday. She is survived by her parents and siblings.
Vadislav Rachamimov, 30, of Be'er Sheva, served in the Nafcha Prison.
He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Be'er Sheva.
Ayas Sarchan, 30, of Kfar Marar, is survived by his wife and one child.
He served in the Ofek Prison and was laid to rest in the cemetery in
that community.
Beiber Shadi, 35, of Kfar Jat, was laid to rest in that community's cemetery on Friday.
Yakir Suissa, 26, of Dimona, served in the Ramon prison. His funeral
was held Friday at the military cemetery in Dimona. Suissa spoke to his
sister shortly before the tragedy and she heard him recite the
Traveler's Prayer, and heard a group respond with a chorus of “Amens.”
His father died after suffering a heart attack three years ago during a
terrorist bombing.
Adal Tafesh, 33, of Beit Jan, is survied by his wife and two children. He was laid to rest Friday at the cemetery in Beit Jan.
Siyum Tzagi, 31, of Netivot, is survived by his wife and three
children. His funeral was held Friday at the Netivot military cemetery.
Eran Weisel, 31, of Kiryat Bialik, is survived by his wife and a child. He was laid to rest Friday at a cemetery in Haifa.
Rami Yisraeli, 33, of Be'er Sheva, is survived by his wife and two
children. He served in the Dekel Prison and was laid to rest in the
military cemetery in Be'er Sheva.
2. PM Addresses Nation Regarding the Fire in Northern Carmel
by Avi Yellin
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Saturday evening at a Haifa
University press conference that following the tragic loss of 41 lives
in the Carmel fires which began Thursday morning, his main goals were
preventing the loss of more lives and putting the fire out from the air
with international assistance.
Netanyahu said that thanks to the cooperation of the firefighters,
police, Magen David Adom and other volunteers, the first goal of saving
lives had successfully been reached.
The prime minister also referred to the help Israel received from other
nations, including Egypt, Turkey and Jordan, as "heartwarming,"
clarifying that there was "no shame" in receiving foreign assistance in
putting out a fire of this magnitude.
"We've helped other countries in the past, now they're helping us," he said.
Netanyahu added that the Boeing supertanker plane that was scheduled to
arrive overnight at approximately 1am would greatly help in fire
fighting efforts due to its ability to fly at night.
He added that the number of planes coming from other countries will be doubled or even tripled in the coming days.
Netanyahu further stated that he intends to "cut the bureaucracy" in
order to get displaced residents of the North back to their homes as
soon as possible.
3. 'Cautious Optimism' But Fires Still Rage
by David Lev and Chana Ya'ar
Fire Chief Shimon Roma announced Sunday morning that the worst may be
over and "cautious optimism" is at hand but the fire is still raging in a
number of locations and total control will take time. Roma told
listeners on IDF Army Radio that although the combined strength of
Israeli and foreign firefighting teams appeared to have brought the
blaze into a more manageable state than that which they confronted on
Thursday, they still had a long way to go.
More than 30 firefighting aircraft were gearing up to make their drops
of chemical retardant on Sunday morning, including the largest
firefighting aircraft in the world -- a privately-owned American Boeing
747. The Evergreen Supertanker, which landed at Ben-Gurion International
Airport late Saturday night, can carry up to 80 tons of chemical fire
retardant and water at one time -- 16 times the amount of the average
firefighting plane -- and was already preparing to make its first drop
at 6:00 a.m. Sunday.
After three days of spreading flames and the deaths of 41 people in
Israel's worst fire ever, authorities were somewhat optimistic Saturday
night that the tide was turning, and that with the assistance of some 33
foreign firefighting aircraft, the Carmel fire could be brought under
control within a day or two. However, some sources in the fire
department said that it could take as long as a week to completely douse
the flames.
The fire is still raging in "Little Switzerland", the verdant mountain
road and its wildlife preserve, Mount Shekef near the Druze towns of
Daliat El Carmel and Ussefiya, the Nir Etzion, Beit Oren and Yemin Orde
Youth Village areas.
All the animals in the wildlife preserve were saved, some by evacuation
and some by opening the cages and allowing the non-dangerous indigenous
animals to escape to safer areas in time by themselves.
So far, over 50,000 dunams (12,500 acres) of forested area – including
some 5 million trees - have been destroyed. However, officials said
that the fire had still not been brought under control, and that
easterly winds, although weaker than they were Friday, could still
spread the fire.
The Jewish National Fund, Keren Kayemet Leyisrtael, whose mandate is
forestation, says that thousands of hundred year old trees were
destroyed and estimates that many decades will pass before the forests
will be restored to their former beauty.
All 41 victims of the fire were identified over the weekend, and the
names of 39 of the victims had been released by Saturday night. The
youngest victim was Elad Rivan, a 16 year old student from Haifa, who
had volunteered to help firefighters. Elad appeared for duty on
Thursday, and was killed as he was working with a firefighting crew from
Afula that was trapped by spreading flames. Ten of the victims were
buried Friday, and another five funerals are so far scheduled for
Sunday.
Planes from Switzerland, Russia, Holland, France, Azerbaijan, and
Romania on Saturday joined planes from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and
Turkey that were working to prevent the spreading of the fire and to
douse some of the flames. Over the weekend, Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu said that Israel would buy more firefighting planes in order
to ensure that future fires are brought under control more quickly.
Speaking to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas said that the PA would be glad to provided whatever help
it could in the tragedy, and pledged three firefighters. Netanyahu
expressed his gratitude for the offer, saying that “neighbors must help
each other.”
In what is being taken as a positive sign, residents of some of the
towns that were evacuated Thursday night and Friday, including Tirat
HaCarmel and the Denya neighborhood of Haifa, were allowed to return to
their homes Saturday night. Authorities said that the smoke cloud over
Tirat HaCarmel, which made breathing the air hazardous Friday, had
dissipated somewhat, and that the town was now safe from pollution and
spreading flames.
Many of the roads that had been closed throughout Friday, including
Road 4, the main north-south highway in the area, have been reopened.
Police have increased their patrols of the evacuated areas to prevent
possible looting of empty houses.
Meanwhile, on Saturday afternoon police arrested two 16 year old youths
from the village of Ussefiya, which itself was heavily damaged in the
fire, in connection with the inferno. The two brothers were questioned
by police, who said that they had apparently had acted with negligence,
and did not start the fire intentionally. On Friday night, police said
at a press conference that they knew the family who had started the
fire, and that they had not acted out of nationalistic or other
intentional motivation.
However, reports persisted Saturday that there had been other
contributing factors to the fire – specifically, groups and individuals
who had thrown firebombs in different areas where firefighters were
working, in order to rekindle fires that had gone out. Firefighters and
rescue workers reported seeing such individuals throughout Friday, and
late in the day, two youths from the village of Daliat al-Carmel were
arrested when they were seen acting suspiciously near a site where the
flames had recently been doused. They were later released.
Several smaller fires broke out in the Carmel region and in other areas
as well, and police said these fires were “copycat arson” blazes being
set by individuals or, perhaps, by organized groups. Through Saturday
night, police were chasing down suspects who had started a fire in the
Jerusalem Forest. A PA Arab and an Israeli Arab were apprehended
attempting to set a fire in the valley near Gilo. That fire was doused,
and no injuries were reported.
4. Was Israel Unprepared? PM Intends to Form IAF Firefighting Unit
by Maayana Miskin
As foreign crews arrived Friday morning to help Israel battle the major
fire in the north of the country, questions began to be heard
asking why Israel did not have the necessary firefighting equipment at
hand. The fire first broke out on Thursday, 41 people died when their
bus was hit by a wall of fire and several more were gravely injured.
The fire destroyed an estimated 50,000 dunams (12,500 acres) of forest
land, 5 million trees and many houses. More than 13,000 people were
evacuated in an orderly fashion, Israelis opened their homes, but the
questions remained.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the Cabinet would discuss the
issue on Sunday and the Prime MInister is set to address the nation
after the Sabbath. It has long been known that Israel lacks large
firefighting planes, Lieberman said.
Treasury Minister Yuval Steinitz said that months before the disaster,
100m. shekels had been allotted by the treasury for improvements in
firefighting and the question was not financial, but operative..
“There is no doubt that we should have bought large planes without
waiting,” Lieberman said. The cost of repairing the damages done by the
Carmel fire will far outweigh the cost of even the most expensive
firefighting planes, he added, “and when it comes to human life, the
issue of cost is of course irrelevant.”
The Foreign Ministry has been involved in obtaining foreign aid in
firefighting efforts, Lieberman continued. He revealed that Germany was
involved in getting aid from Turkey, which sent two planes, a move that
came as a surprise to many given the crisis in Turkish-Israel ties.
Interior Minister Eli Yishai is expected to demand that the government
establish a committee of inquiry to determine why Israel was unprepared
for a large forest fire, and what must be done in the future to rectify
the situation. Israeli firefighting teams lacked the large planes
needed to spray the fire from the air, but also were short of
firefighting chemicals, most of which had been used fighting forest
fires earlier in the year.
There have been several fires in recent weeks, due in large part to the unseasonably dry weather and strong winds.
A State Comptroller's report part of which focused on the state of
firefighting preparedness was expected to come out in several weeks. The
section of the report dealing with firefighting may be published early
following the Carmel disaster.
Minister of Internal Security Yitzchak Aharonovich called to avoid
investigations into the causes of the fire or the possibility of
negligence for the time being. “We don't need investigations right now,
let's wait a few days,” he said.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made similar remarks Thursday as he
expressed sorrow for the lives lost. “I will declare a national day of
mourning, but right now we have no time to mourn or to begin inquiries,”
he said. He announced that he intends to form an IDF firefighting unit
as part of the Israeli Air Force, whose services would be available in
the event of need to the PA as well.
5. Supertanker Begins Fighting Fire over Ein Hod
by Gil Ronen
The American 'Evergreen 747 Super Tanker' fire-fighting plane began its
mission over the Carmel fire Sunday morning in the area of Ein Hod. The
IDF Spokesman said the aircraft was carrying 21,000 gallons of water
and fire retardant.
The plane's crew was joined by two IAF pilots and the commander of the Nevatim Air Force Base, Brig.-Gen Eden Attias.
The Evergreen Supertanker is a Boeing 747-200 that was modified into an
aerial firefighting aircraft by the Evergreen International Aviation
Corporation. With a capacity of 24,000 US gallons (almost 95,000
liters), it is twice as large as the next-largest fire-fighting
airplane. It was rented by Israel at the instructions of Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu.
Until ten years ago, Israel's aircraft of choice for fighting fires was
the C-47 Sikorsky helicopter, which can carry over 10,000 liters of
water and fire retardant. In the year 2000, however, the IAF's commander
ordered the helicopters to cease participating in firefighting missions
after cracks were discovered in the helicopters' transmissions
following firefighting missions.
Experts said at the time that another reason for the decision was a lack of funding for using the helicopters in this way.
In the years since 2000, Israel has made do with the Air Tractor AT-402
firefighting planes, manufactured in 1980. The Air Tractors are small
agricultural planes that can carry up to 1,900 liters of fire retardant
and water.
Close to a dozen countries have sent aircraft to assist in fighting the present blaze.
The first to arrive were Canadair CL-415 amphibian planes sent by
Greece and Turkey. These can carry up to 6,150 liters of water and can
refill their tanks at sea, saving the need for refilling at an airstrip.
Britain sent a Lynx firefighting helicopter that was stationed in Cyprus and can carry up to 500 liters of water.
Other aircraft that have either arrived or are on their way from
different countries are the huge Russian IL-76MT Ilyushin transports,
which can carry 42 tons of liquid, the BE200 amphibious plane and the
MI-26 transport helicopter.
6. Fire or a Massacre? Israeli Media Downplays Arson Suspicion
by Gil Ronen
The fire in the Carmel Mountains may turn out to be the worst terror
act in Israel's history, but major news outlets appear resolute in their
will to ignore this possibility and its implications.
Israel's left-oriented major news media are on the whole defining the
fire as a "disaster," spending most of their broadcast time discussing
the insufficient preparation for a disaster of this magnitude and
downplaying the fact that Arab arson is likely to be behind the blaze.
MK Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh) of the National Union was the first leader
Thursday to publicly give voice the possibility that the fire was a
terror attack – “an act of arson that turned into a massacre,” in his
words. Most of the large forest fires in Israel are set by hostile
Arabs, Katz said. He noted that he had proposed a bill for minimum
punishment of terror arsonists nine months ago, and blamed Justice
Minister Yaakov Ne'eman for torpedoing it.
Member of Knesset Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) called on Prime
Minister Netanyahu Thursday evening to recruit “the entire Shin Bet”
(Israel Security Agency) to investigate the Carmel Mountain fire and
what he described as "the ongoing arson activity in the Galilee in
general."
MK Ben-Ari said, "Fires are not decrees from above and the people of
Israel must receive an answer regarding what's behind this great
tragedy."
The fire spread from three locations simultaneously – making arson a likely possibility.
Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara (Likud), a resident of Usfiyeh, said on
Channel 10 Thursday evening that he has received information that the
fire is a terror act. He said that if the perpetrators are caught they
should be executed "like [the Nazi criminal Adolf] Eichmann" who is the
only person put to death by Israel to date.
Arab citizens of Israel use arson as a simple means of inflicting
terror and destruction upon the Jewish state. Large scale fires recently consumed
5,000 acres in the Golan Heights. A fire was set in the Gilad Farm
several weeks ago and an Arab was seen fleeing by a group of soldiers in
the area..
The numerous large fires that broke out or were set this year depleted
Israel's reserves of fire-fighting chemicals, and the supply of
chemicals is expected to be used up completely by Friday morning.
Israeli planes are reported to be en route to France to bring more
supplies of fire-dousing materials.
According to an unconfirmed report on rotter.net, Radio Haifa reported
that Arabs have been dancing in the streets of Furadis, just south of
Haifa, in celebration of the deadly fire.
7. Dr. Thomas Rid: No Clear Political Vision in Israel
by Elad Benari
On Wednesday, Bar-Ilan University's Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for
Strategic Studies, in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, held a
one-day conference on the subject of U.S., Europe and the Middle East.
Among the many professors who took part in the conference was Dr.
Thomas Rid of the University of Constance. Speaking to Israel National
News TV, Rid, who participated in a panel entitled “Western Policies
toward the Arab-Israeli Arena”, said that contrary to what many believe,
Muslims do not take part in the political process, which he argues is
actually bad for Europe.
“Europe needs more engaged Muslims. Europe needs Muslims who are more open to take part in the political process,” said Rid.
He also addressed the political arena in Israel, and said that while he
was “very impressed by the people I spoke to in the IDF and in other
government agencies,” he is less impressed by the style of the political
debate in Israel.
“The big problem I think I see is that there doesn’t seem to be a clear
political vision in Israel,” said Rid, and added that the only people
who have a clear political vision are the Jewish residents in Judea and
Samaria.
“On their own right they are impressive,” he said. “They have courage,
they have a clear vision and they work very hard to achieve that vision.
But if Israeli mainstream society does not agree with that vision, then
just complaining about anti-Semitism in Europe, about critical views
coming from outside Israel, and maybe even complaining about the
settlers doesn’t help you very much. You need an alternative vision,
something positive that could be achieved, and I really don’t see that
at the moment.”
8. Arab Media: International Fire Aid Signals Israeli Weakness
by Chana Ya'ar
Hizbullah terrorists are celebrating the tragic wildfire in northern Israel that left 41 dead and destroyed more than 12,500 acres (50,000 dunam) of forested land.
“The great Carmel fire has embarrassed Israel's firefighting
capabilities and proved its almost complete incompetence,” crowed the
Hizbullah-linked Al-Manar TV news network.
“The enormous blaze that broke out on the Carmel proved that Israel is
not prepared for war or a mass terrorist strike that would cause many
casualties in the home front,” the new network wrote on its Internet
website.
Al-Manar quoted liberally from a leftist Israeli news website, pointing
out “the Israeli daily pointed to the help Israel has asked for, an
opportunity that wouldn't be offered for the Zionist entity in the case
of war... The disaster has shown that the Israeli enemy was unable to
face the incident alone, pushing Israeli officials to ask for
international help.”
The Qatar-based Aljazeera news network was more reserved in its
reporting, noting simply that “Israel failed to contain the fire.” The
pan-Arab station also noted the fire “revealed dramatic shortcomings in
the country's ability to tackle such an emergency.”
In Sunday's coverage, Aljazeera also pointed out “the battle to contain
the fire is now an operation with regional implications.” It said
that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who has repeatedly
refused to return to final status talks with Israel, expressed his
condolences in a telephone call to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on
Saturday. The pan-Arab network reported a statement from Netanyahu's
office which described the conversation as “warm and friendly.”
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