Thank you

In times like this, when catastrophe strikes and innocent human lives are threatened, we all gain a new perspective on what is really important.

By JPOST EDITORIAL
Peres Plat 311 (photo credit: Moshe Milner/GPO)
Peres Plat 311
(photo credit: Moshe Milner/GPO)
One of the most important and correct decisions that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made in reaction to the Carmel forest fire was to quickly reach out to the world, a move not to be taken for granted.
In Israeli culture there is a strong ethos of self-sufficiency and independent-mindedness inherent to a political movement that rebelled against its own tradition in order to radically remake the image of the Jew. For many of us, one of the central lessons of the Jewish people’s long history of hardship is that “we can rely on no one but ourselves.” Besides, psychologically speaking, it is much easier to give help than receive it.
But there is another Zionist ethos, one that calls for the normalization of the Jewish people as a nation among nations. An integral part of the normalization process is not only to be the first to offer aid to other countries – which Israel does frequently and well – but to have the requisite humility to accept aid from others. Thankfully, Netanyahu lost no time, personally calling the heads of governments across the globe. The warm outpouring of help in response was remarkable.
Ceremonies marking the departure of the international contingent of firefighters have been taking place this week, including at the Nevatim, Ramat David, Tel Nof and Haifa air force bases. No fewer than 192 crewmen from a variety of countries received a special thanks. The Jerusalem Post would like to add its appreciation.
THANKS TO:
• Azerbaijan – 2 helicopters
• Bulgaria – 1 plane and 92 firefighters
• Croatia – 1 plane, 8 firefighters and fire retardants and suppressants
• Cyprus – 1 plane and 1 helicopter
• Egypt – fire retardants and suppressants
• France – 5 planes and fire retardants and suppressants
• Germany – 1 plane, 7 firefighting experts and fire retardants and suppressants
• Greece – 7 planes, 34 firefighters and fire retardants and suppressants
• Holland – 5 firefighting experts
• Italy – 1 plane and fire retardants and suppressants
• Jordan – 3 truckloads of firefighting equipment and materials
• Palestinian Authority – 21 firefighters and 3 fire engines
• Russia – 3 planes and 22 firefighting experts
• Spain – 5 planes
• Switzerland – 1 plane, 3 helicopters and a team of 14
• Turkey – 2 planes
• The UK – 2 helicopters
• The US – 5 planes, including the Evergreen supertanker, 11 firefighting experts and fire retardants and suppressants. There were also eight American firefighting planes en route to Israel when the government told Washington it no longer needed their assistance, as the flames had been brought under control.
A 60-person firefighting team about to depart from Idaho was also told its services were not needed, but remained on standby.
MANY OF the foreign pilots who scrambled to come here had never flown in Israel before, and there was a Babel of languages that made coordination among the various flight teams more difficult. There were also technical problems such as, for instance, maneuvering the huge Russian Ilyushin planes at the Tel Nof base. But these hurdles were overcome with a lot of expert planning and a strong willingness to cooperate.
The fire is now extinguished and the international teams are slowly making their ways back to their respective countries. Routine will reign again.
But perhaps as a consequence of their experiences here in working with Israel to save lives, relations that were already warm will become even warmer. And perhaps relations that had grown cold, notably those between Turkey and Israel, will warm a little in the wake of Ankara’s assistance. It is hoped that there will be a similar warming of relations with others among our neighbors.
In times like this, when catastrophe strikes and innocent human lives are threatened, we all gain a new perspective on what is really important.