Israel will buy six firefighting planes from Canada for a total price of about $200 million. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met Canadian defense minister Peter Gordon MacKay on Monday and worked out the details of the purchase. MacKay is visiting Israel.
The squadron will be named the Elad Squadron, in honor of 16 year old fire brigade volunteer Elad Riven, who was the youngest victim of the Carmel fire tragedy.
At the memorial ceremony for Riven, Netanyahu told his grieving family: "We salute you and the wondrous son you raised. One cannot always say about a boy who was taken after 16 years that he leaves us a legacy, but we can say it in the case of Elad - a legacy of infinite devotion to nation and state, a legacy of purity of heart and of clear, simple heroism."
"Elad went to the heavens as a hero, and from the heavens, the pilots of the Elad Squadron will fly in order to save lives as Elad did," he added.