Minister Eli Yishai
Minister Eli YishaiIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Hundreds of city mayors and heads of local councils have signed a letter in support of Interior Minister Eli Yishai following criticism of his management of Israel's Fire and Rescue Services. Yishai was also praised by the head of Fire and Rescue Services, Shimon Romach.

State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss issued a report Wednesday that seemed to place primary responsibility for underpreparedness for the Carmel fire on Yishai's shoulders.

The mayors' petition, led by Mayor of Beit Shemesh Moshe Abutbul, praised Yishai for his repeated requests to add funding to the Fire and Rescue Services budget. “As those who bear responsibility for the daily upkeep of fire services, we followed minister Yishai's requests to add 500 million shekels to the Fire Services budget, and after his warnings since he entered office that the firefighting services in Israel were in bad shape,” it read.

“We were also aware of his proposed bill to improve the fire services system and set up a national Fire and Rescue Authority,” they continued. “Therefore, we are grateful for his work and his efforts in this matter to this point.”

Yishai responded to his critics Wednesday, saying that he had opposed the cancellation of the Fire and Rescue Services aerial firefighting program in 2002, and had fought for a larger budget for equipment. “If I were not hareidi, they would be saying that I warned everyone, that I predicted the future,” he said. He said that the best plans for improvements in every sphere are stopped at the level of the bureaucrats in the Ministry of the Treasury and that the fire equipment budget is one of them.

Romach backed Yishai, saying the minister had been the first he could recall to significantly increase the budget for equipment.

The Carmel fire raged for several days, killing 43 people, most of them Prison Services officers caught in the flames after evacuating a jail with mainly Arab prisoners. In addition to destroying the scenic Carmel Forest are, it left many homeless, and caused serious damage to towns and institutions.  It revealed severe problems in the firefighting system, including Israel's lack of a plane equipped to fight major fires. The fire was put out only after several countries offered their assistance.