Arab nations, Palestinians join effort to fight Israel fires
Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, US, France, UK, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Croatia, Russia, and PA all send aid to Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted offers from Jordan and Egypt to send assistance to help battle fires burning throughout the country.
Israel, which frequently sends teams to assist countries in crisis, has for the first time found itself on the receiving end of siginificant foreign aid which includes assistance from several Arab nations.
Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and the Palestinian Authority have all joined the international firefighting effort to respond to a wave of fires that have forced some 80,000 Israelis from their homes and burned at least 2,224 acres since Wednesday.
Egypt is expected to send two firefighting helicopters while Jordan will send firetrucks and ground crews to douse flames fed by strong winds and unseasonanly dry conditions.
Also on Friday, Muslim nation and Israel's regional ally Azerbaijan committed to sending one plane to join the firefighting effort.
Turkey, with whom Israel recently normalized relations following six-year diplomatic crisis sparked by a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, offered to send two planes and eight personnel to battle the blazes.
Netanyahu on Thursday accepted an offer by the Palestinian Authority to send four ground teams to help combat the fires, many of which Israel's defense establishment increasingly believes were set intentionally with nationalistic motives.
A senior Israeli official said that cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian fire crews was being overseen by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the unit which manages civilian affairs in the West Bank.
France, the United States, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Great Britain, Croatia, and Russia have all sent assistance as well.
Israel's Foreign Ministry on Thursday announced it had reached a deal to bring the 747 Supertanker firefighting plane from the US for use "in an extreme circumstance."
France also announced that it would send two firefighting aircraft to assist efforts.
Greece has sent three planes and 32 personnel; Cyprus has sent one plane and seven personnel; Italy has sent two planes and 13 personnel; Great Britain will send a helicopter and five personnel; Croatia has sent 2 planes and 19 personnel; and Russia has sent two planes and 19 personnel.
"We are deeply grateful to the international community," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said Friday. "Its mobilization proves that in times of crisis we can count on many friends in this region and beyond."
The rising number of fires since Tuesday has stretched Israel's capacity to deal with them, raising questions over lessons learned since a devastating blaze near Haifa killed 44 people in 2010.
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