By Judy Lash Balint
JERUSALEM — The destruction of property and nature all across the country is beyond belief. Among the latest tragedies in the fires engulfing Israel is the life work of artist Yoram Raanan in Beit Meir, in the hills outside Jerusalem.
Last night the moshav was completely evacuated and little remains. What we can do to help the physical, emotional and financial recovery will emerge in the hours to come.
Look at www.yoramraanan.com to see pictures of Yoram’s studio that was destroyed. I met Yoram during Sukkot at an exhibit in Jerusalem. Clearly one of the great contemporary Israeli artists.
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| Yoram and Meira Raanan |
Authorities say residents won’t be able to return to what is left of Beit Meir any time soon. One problem is the air quality–compromised because one of the building that went up at Beit Meir had an asbestos roof. Israel Radio reports 2 Palestinian teenagers arrested for setting the Beit Meir fire and another 12 Arabs arrested in other arson attacks.
Touring Beit Meir this morning,Prime Minister Netanyahu told the firefighters: “The most important thing is to evacuate people, and also yourselves. Nobody needs to die here, nobody. This is before anything else.
When you consider the level of destruction of property and nature over the past few days, it’s amazing that there has so far been no loss of life. Most wildfires in the US, Spain, Portugal and Australia claim lives (e.g. 108 in Australia in 2009, 4 Portugal etc)
In Haifa, 700 homes were burned and more than 60,000 evacuated from their homes. Many of the residents have been allowed back into their homes before Shabbat, with thousands of others hosted by guest houses, hotels and friends in unaffected parts of the country.
Balint is a freelance writer based in Israel.
These are terrible news, a life changing situation. Best Regards Yasur
Friday, November 25, 2016, New York, NY, … Leaders of the Conference of Presidents today expressed gratitude to the many countries who are providing crucial assistance to Israel in battling the devastating fires that threatened the property and safety of tens of thousands of Israelis. Among those nations sending firefighters and equipment were Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Palestinian Authority, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the. The U.S. is also deploying personnel and firefighting equipment to assist in extinguishing the remaining blazes. Israel has often responded when other countries faced natural disasters or violent attacks.
“The outpouring of international support for Israel in response to the widespread threats to the safety and property of tens of thousands of Israelis, is an example of international cooperation at its best. We hope all people will join to stop these terrible fires and the destruction they are causing,” said Stephen M. Greenberg, Chairman and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Conference.
The Jewish leaders also said that they were writing leaders of each of the individual countries and urged others to do the same. When we have complaints we make our voices heard to foreign leaders. It is equally, if not more important, to express our appreciation”.
Mr. Greenberg and Mr. Hoenlein added, “Reports that some of the fires were intentionally set in order to inflict large scale destruction, injury and death are a sobering reminder of the evolving and constant security challenges facing Israel. We are disgusted by reports that some news outlets and social media posts celebrated the damage caused by the fires in Israel.”