The head of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) on Thursday expressed concern about the wild fires currently raging in Israel. WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Israel, especially those in the areas most affected by the fires.”
The WJC president thanked the countries – among them Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Russia, Turkey, and the United States – providing emergency relief and support for Israel.
However, he expressed indignation about the fact that despite the danger a number of Arab communities, as well as their Jewish neighbours, were facing by the fires, some Arabs had now “gleefully taken to social media.” Hash tags such #TheZionistEntityIsBurning or #IsraelIsBurning were shared widely on Twitter.
On Thursday, firefighters struggled to contain blazes raging through the northern Israeli city of Haifa and dozens of small- to medium-scale conflagrations throughout the country.
Firefighters also battled flames in a forest near the capital Jerusalem.
Photo: Laurence Weinbaum
