Perilous Times
Hezbollah overjoyed by fire, and some are even taking credit for
starting the inferno
Arab media disparages Israel over disaster; Officials in Jerusalem: PR
damage huge, fire possibly deliberately set by Terrorist/arsonists
Published: 12.03.10, 21:01
News From Israel
Arab networks celebrate fire disaster: Many Arab media outlets have
been taking advantage of Israel's fire disaster to disparage the Jewish
state, rejoice over its misfortune and some are even taking credit for
starting the blaze.
Meanwhile, officials in Jerusalem presented a grim assessment of the
public relations damage suffered by Israel as result of its inability
to effectively fight the fire.
"The PR damage in the world is huge; Israel is perceived as fully
incompetent," one source said.
Firefighting aircraft on way as Bibi pleads for world's help; Turkey,
Egypt pledge assistance. Evacuees to be hosted by communities nationwide
"The great Carmel fire embarrassed Israel's firefighting capabilities
and proved its almost complete incompetence," a report by Hezbollah's
al-Manar network said. The Lebanese station said the poor performance
came despite Israeli claims regarding the IDF Home Front's full
readiness to cope with any emergency and face the implications of an
all-out war.
The Qatar-based al-Jazeera network reported that "Israel failed to
contain the fire." The popular Arab station also noted that the Jewish
state had to plead for international help in order to bring the blaze
under control.
Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry officials in touch with more than 15
foreign governments described the global amazement at Israel's requests
for help. Officials in Greece, Italy and Germany expressed their
surprise at Israel's helplessness, one source said.
"We have no doubt that in Damascus to Tehran and Beirut people are
seeing these problems," the source said. "Everyone is asking how a
state…that went through several wars and is supposed to keep in its
warehouses proper equipment for military tests suffers from a shortage
of planes and firefighting materials."