Foreign Policy Blogs

The Fire

Israel was just struck by one of the largest disasters in the country’s short history — a fire is sweeping through northern Israel and has already killed dozens. Out of this tragedy, several high points, low points and questions have emerged.

The good:

Israel’s neighbors  are here to help, even the ones that have issued some sharp critiques of IDF policies in recent years. Namely, both Turkey and Egypt promptly responded to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s call for assistance. Israel and Turkey have been feuding in recent years since the ascension of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has chastised Israel for human rights violations against the Palestinians. Most prominently, Turkey criticized Israel for its treatment of a Gaza-bound flotilla and the bombings of Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. A cynic would suggest that these countries only offered to help because Arabs and Muslims densely populate northern Israel. However, I would counter that, regardless of all the political back-and-forth, the Israel-Turkey relationship is still essential to both countries, with this disaster providing an opportunity to demonstrate that commitment to the allegiance.

Also, Europe — where anti-Semitism and anti-Israel rhetoric is on the rise — quickly offered to assist. Even though some politicians and elements of their constituency oppose Israel, humanitarian assistance was not affected.

Already ten countries have pledged assistance.

The bad:

It has been reported that not all residents of northern Israel were saddened by the loss of life and destruction caused by the fires. Reportedly, some Arab-Israelis danced in the streets after northern Israel went ablaze. If accurate and related, that kind of celebration exemplifies one of the reasons why the peace process has stalled for years — callous disregard by some extremist Israelis and Palestinians for the lives of their neighbors.

The questions:

Chiefly, was it arson? And if so, was it a terrorist attack? With the reported rejoicing, it would appear that at least some residents of northern Israel welcome this kind of disaster, but that is still not proof that terrorists committed this act. However, it is somewhat odd that a forest fire occurred in the winter, with those types of disasters usually happening in the dry summer months. Then again, Israel is quite hot year-round and the country has suffered from a significant drought over the last few years. Oddly, today Israelis around the world prayed for rain, which couldn’t come soon enough to help out the fire fighting efforts.

Press reports have been fairly mum on the terrorist angle, which could be for several reasons. First, and most logical, is that terrorism has been ruled out or not even in the cards. Journalists might not find it essential to explicitly state the lack of a terror angle. Or, perhaps the government has forbidden media outlets from reporting on suspected terrorism. Israel has a policy that the government can forbid publication of information essential to national security. Perhaps the Israeli government has leads and does not want to tip off any suspect of their impending capture, although that theory is, I believe, less likely.

fire

Photo from Ha’Aretz. Assuredly, more to come.

 

Author

Ben Moscovitch

Ben Moscovitch is a Washington D.C.-based political reporter and has covered Congress, homeland security, and health care. He completed an intensive two-year Master's in Middle Eastern History program at Tel Aviv University, where he wrote his thesis on the roots of Palestinian democratic reforms. Ben graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in English Literature. He currently resides in Washington, D.C. Twitter follow: @benmoscovitch

Areas of Focus:
Middle East; Israel-Palestine; Politics

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