Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting about the wave of fires that hit Israel last week, and thanked the countries that sent Israel aerial firefighting assistance.
"First of all, I would like to praise the firefighters, police personnel, pilots and all of the security forces who worked over the past two days to extinguish the fires and save lives. I heard that it was said that the aerial assistance I brought in from other countries was 'unnecessary.' I reject this outright – it was not unnecessary. When we are talking about saving lives it is better to have too much than too little, and this is what we did.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the leaders of the many countries that sent us aerial assistance. It was important and also attests to cooperation with Israel and to Israel's standing. However, I have instructed that an additional increase be prepared for our aerial firefighting squadron so that it will be able to operate also at night, if possible. This is difficult but we want to achieve this capability as well.
“I have asked to be personally updated on the rebuilding process. You saw the homes, the people. It is heart-rending to see people whose homes were completely burnt. We will help however we can to rebuild the places that were hit."