Member of Knesset Oren Hazan (Likud) is initiating a bill to provide up to life imprisonment for those convicted of setting fires out of nationalist motivations. He called the current wave of fire an "Arson Intifada" by hostile elements "worse, in my eyes, than the Knife Intifada."
Noting that most of the fires were set deliberately, Hazan said "to catch the perpetrators and bring them to justice as if they were terrorists who committed terror attacks. This is a grave matter in my eyes because arson can cause mass death. Therefore we should not treat it with indifference." He added, "The arsonists chose to ignite the woods and forests with the clear intention 'to burn the country.' What did not work for them in suicide bombings and sabotage, they are now trying via the fire of the arson jobs"