Sunday, December 05, 2010

PM Addresses Nation Regarding the Fire in Northern Carmel


Avi Yellin
YNET

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Saturday evening at a Haifa University press conference that following the tragic loss of 41 lives in the Carmel fires which began Thursday morning, his main goals were preventing the loss of more lives and putting the fire out from the air with international assistance.

Netanyahu said that thanks to the cooperation of the firefighters, police, Magen David Adom and other volunteers, the first goal of saving lives had successfully been reached. The prime minister also referred to the help Israel received from other nations, including Egypt, Turkey and Jordan, as "heartwarming," clarifying that there was "no shame" in receiving foreign assistance in putting out a fire of this magnitude.



"We've helped other countries in the past, now they're helping us," he said.



Netanyahu added that the Boeing supertanker plane that was scheduled to arrive overnight at approximately 1am would greatly help in fire fighting efforts due to its ability to fly at night.



He added that the number of planes coming from other countries will be doubled or even tripled in the coming days.



Netanyahu further stated that he intends to "cut the bureaucracy" in order to get displaced residents of the North back to their homes as soon as possible.

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