Following the international assistance given to Israel to help put out
the Carmel Forest fire, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke to a
number of leaders Tuesday in an effort to establish a regional fire
fighting force to provide assistance where needed.
“The assistance that was given to Israel last week should serve as a
model for additional cooperation in our region,” Netanyahu said. “By
pooling our resources and knowledge of our countries we can better
prepare and respond to natural disasters that hit our region,” he said
in conversations with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Jordan’s
King Abdullah II and Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas.
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Papandreou, according the statement put out by the Prime Minster’s Office, suggested holding a meeting on this matter in Athens.
In a related matter, Netanyahu announced Tuesday evening that the aerial
firefighting force that Israel will set up in the wake of the Carmel
blaze will be named Elad, after 16-year-old volunteer firefighter Elad
Riban who was killed in the fire last Thursday afternoon.