Fighting the Carmel blaze.
Fighting the Carmel blaze.Israel news photo: Flash 90 (file)

Two Jewish families that went on a Pesach holiday hike reported that two Arabs set a forest fire that was intended to kill them - and almost did.

The two families, from Jerusalem and Haifa, went hiking on Chol HaMoed of Pesach at Kula Forest next to Elad. Yehoshua, the father of one of the families, related the story to Arutz Sheva's Hebrew-language news service.
 
"We came for a family picnic, two families with eight kids. We set up camp near nightfall, positioned the vehicles and turned on the lights. The area emptied out and we were the only ones there. At 9:30 P.M. we heard noises from the forest. We thought it was some animal and turned on the lights but we saw nothing."
 
Ten minutes later, the two families found themselves facing what they described as a huge fire. "By 9:40 there was already a blaze with flames that were four or five meters high. All this - at a distance of about 50 meters from us. I ran with my friend toward the fire and we saw two youths trying to get away. One of them broke into a sprint. I called out to one of them and then I heard him asking me, in a heavy Arabic accent, 'Did you see that it was me?'... then he started to run away." 
 
The fire did not spread quickly because the foliage was damp, following rain that had fallen the previous morning. However, it turned out that the two arsonists placed a wooden cabinet or bench under one of the trees and doused it with a flammable liquid, to enhance the blaze. Yehoshua is convinced that the arsonists deliberately targeted the two families, whom they saw setting up camp for the night. "Our vehicles' headlights could not be missed," he explained. 
 
Yehoshua and his friend called the police and informed them about the blaze and the two Arabs they saw escaping. They also told them that they were two families with small children. "Meanwhile, the women understood what was happening and folded all the gear into the cars. We thought we would get out of there but my friend's car wouldn't start. I called again to report that we have a stalled vehicle and that the two who had tried to hurt us could try to find another way to harm us."
 
At this point, Yehoshua told Arutz Sheva, hysteria set in. The children were scared, and one of the mothers began crying, making the children's panic worse. "There was a feeling that we were losing control," he said. All the while, the police kept calling the families, in an attempt to locate them and direct fire crews to the spot. 
 
Yehoshua's friend finally managed to start his car. It turned out that the car was fine but that in his panic, he had forgotten to use the vehicle's ignition code. The families drove away and waited for the fire truck on a dirt road. Fifteen minutes passed, and the truck arrived. The fire crews battled the flames,  and one of the firefighters told the families that they should be very thankful for surviving.
 
"He said that if the fire had reached the height of the tree above it and there had been a little wind, we would have been in a  situation similar to the Carmel fire. You can't escape a fire like that."
 
The firefighter said that similar Arab arson incidents occur every day, but that this one was unique because of its proximity to hikers.
 
The police never showed up, Yehoshua said. They explained that they were tied up because of an event involving gunfire at the Arab town of Jaljulya.
 
Another day, another Arab attack on Jews, and as far as we know - unreported anywhere but Arutz Sheva.