The Carmel Fire

It has been some time since Israel lost 40 dead in a terrorist attack absent a war, but 40 died yesterday in the huge forest fire devastating Mount Carmel, when a bus carrying prison guards to evacuate a prison for Palestinians was trapped by the flames. This fire is now threatening the outskirts of Haifa, Israel's major seaport and naval base and third largest city. This is a disaster of the first order, and a natural one. Aluf Benn's comparison of it to the unpreparedness for the 1973 war is, I think, strained: that was a case of underestimating an enemy: no one underestimates fire, they just don't always prepare for it. Israel has turned to Cyprus and Greece for help, and Turkey has offered help as well.

At least the website (I'm pretty sure it was Ha'aretz) that has been running a "Come visit Mount Carmel and walk where the Prophet Elijah walked" ad has taken it down.

Carmel is a dramatic ridge that separates the great Valley of Jezreel (or Esdraelon) that separates the heights of Galilee from the West Bank hills and their outlier, Carmel, and runs down almost to the sea. Haifa nestles against its northern slope, usually a spectacular scene. But it's a wooded mountain, and a fair bit of it's aflame. Some of the villages up on the Mount are Druze, and some of them and some Jewish villages have already been evacuated. I've driven through some of them in the past: I hope they can come back. The suburbs of Haifa were threatened last night. This is looking like a serious disaster, and a serious failure for Israel's usually effective emergency services.

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