Jewish National Fund Commits Millions to Fight the Blazes in Israel

Jewish National Fund
Friday, 13 October 2000

October 13, 2000 – New York, NY – Jewish National Fund (JNF) has intervened to fight the massive number of fires set by arsonists that are destroying Israel's forests. To date, JNF has committed $3 million dollars and countless resources and manpower to fighting the fires. Since October 1, 277 separate acts of arson have been identified. These fires have consumed over 9,000 dunams of land primarily in the northern regions of Israel.

According to Omri Boneh, JNF-KKL northern region command director, "This year has presented the most severe problems ever experienced, in terms of the number of acts of arson, the number of fires, and their geographic dispersion. Fires on this scale have not been seen for many years."

"These acts of arson are extremely devastating to Israelis and Jews around the world who are devoted to greening the land of Israel. Jewish National Fund stands in unity with the Jewish community and the people of Israel in defending the country, its people and one of the enduring symbols of Zionism - Israel's forests," says Ronald S. Lauder, president, JNF. "Jewish National Fund is the caretaker of the land of Israel on behalf of Jewish people everywhere, and we will not let arson deter us from continuing our mission."

A serious problem that is impeding the progress of JNF fire crews is the inability to gain access to the fires. Problems include, the blockage of major arterial roads, rock throwing attacks upon JNF fire crews, and lack of police escorts for the crews. Despite such obstacles, JNF's regional command and Afforestation Division have been able to deploy fire-fighting brigades to all regions.

JNF's comprehensive fire-fighting efforts equal an investment of $25,000 per hour, totaling $3 million. The fire-fighting investment required of JNF over the past two weeks has already exceeded what was needed over the past two years.

JNF is using its entire fleet of light aircraft to extinguish the fires, maintain constant air surveillance to keep abreast of the situation, and enable communication with the fire-fighters on the ground. When fires have encroached upon neighboring communities, Israel Air Force helicopters have been deployed to fight the blazes.

In the course of fighting the fires, JNF has utilized greater quantities of chemical fire retardant than in any previous year, amounting to more than 51 tons. JNF officials report that airborne fire fighting and the spraying of these fire-fighting additives proved more effective than expected. However, available supply of these materials are being depleted at an alarming rate and JNF crews are in desperate need of additional supplies to fight the fires.

For more information, or to contact Jewish National Fund, see their website at: www.jnf.org