Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday toured the Hatzor Air Base where a majority of the firefighting planes that are going out to fight the fires that are raging across Israel are currently based.

The first foreign firefighting planes on Friday started helping with the wave of wildfires which have forced tens of thousands to evacuate their homes.

Israel is being assisted by planes from Russia, France, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Croatia while on the ground, the Palestinian Authority sent eight fire engines to assist in the firefighting efforts.

Earlier on Friday, Netanyahu toured the site of the fire at Beit Meir, accompanied by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Jerusalem District Border Police commander Itzik Sabin, Mateh Yehuda Area Fire and Rescue Service Commander Effie Peretz and Beit Shemesh Fire and Rescue Service Commander Reuven Yitzhak.

The Prime Minister met with firefighters who briefed him on their work in taking control of the fires.

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. There are many other things but this takes precedence."

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)