Payback and Appreciation

You’ve probably heard stories about Israeli medical teams and rescue workers racing around the world whenever disaster strikes, lending a helping hand to countries that are friendly as well as many that are not. Now Israel has had the opportunity to receive international assistance at a time of need, and it created a lot of goodwill.
 
In January, Israel set up the first field hospital in Haiti after that country’s devastating earthquake, and a few years ago the Jewish state sent aid to the US in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
 
So it seemed like a suitable sort of payback when a long list of countries around the world rushed to send aid to Israel as it fought an unprecedented forest fire in early December. The US sent the largest firefighting plane in the world. Egypt and Jordan sent assistance. The Palestinian Authority sent firefighters and trucks. Greece, Cyprus and even Turkey got in on the act, sending firefighters, equipment and fire-extinguishing chemicals – all of which were in short supply as the fire overwhelmed Israel’s small firefighting crew.
 
If you follow Israeli news sites, you already know there have been lots of accusations of negligence that led to the fire raging out of control for so long. (It took 77 hours to get it under control, 42 people were killed, more than 250 homes suffered major damage and thousands of acres were burned to the ground.) That will continue to play out in the coming weeks, but for the moment, many Israelis are gratified at the international outpouring of support and assistance at a time of need. Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke for many Israelis when he said, at a reception honoring the international crews that helped extinguish the fire, “You came, you saw, you acted and you put out the fire.” A lot of people in Israel are feeling pretty good about all that help.