Carmel forest fire

(Credit: Digital Globe Imagery/Flickr)

What if Israel is hit by an earthquake?

Considering Israel lies near the Syrian-African fault line, and has not suffered from an earthquake in a while, we should all be concerned about ill-preparedness. Israel’s recent experience with a natural disaster (tragic, although milder than what happened in Japan) showed the terrible consequences of erosion in public services. And even the most obvious lessons…

By Roi Maor March 11, 2011

Israel leaves its own civilians defenseless as war looms

There is a direct connection between the Israeli government’s disdain towards casualties among the “enemy’s” civilian population, and its indifference to the fate of its own civilians. The next war, unfortunately, will probably see both groups badly suffer. As I have written here in the past, there are strong indications that Israel may be inching…

By Roi Maor January 28, 2011

(Credit: Digital Globe Imagery/Flickr)

Israel’s unaccountable executive

My op-ed in the Jerusalem Post today discusses the serious problem of Israel’s accountability mechanisms, in the context of the Carmel fire: No society is perfect, but democratic nations are able to examine themselves and learn from their errors. Strong countries are not afraid of admitting mistakes. Democracy’s underlying premise – that government is the…

By Roi Maor December 21, 2010

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The flames of the Carmel fire seen on the backround of the town of Nesher (photo: grebulon/flickr)

Carmel scapegoats III: the meaning of responsibility

The settlers and the ultra-orthodox are not the cause for Israel’s collapsing public services. The professional middle class, which considers itself a “silent majority” of “responsible citizens” but is quite the opposite, should take a hard look in the mirror. This is the third and final installment in a series of posts, examining arguments, which…

By Roi Maor December 17, 2010

Put out our fire and go back to where you came from!

Doesn’t matter how you look at it, or what excuses you come up with. It’s just plain embarrassing So, how embarrassed was I when I read this news item today, about Palestinian firemen who helped put out the fire in the Carmel but were refused entry to Israel to honor their efforts? On a scale…

By Ami Kaufman December 14, 2010

Carmel fire scapegoats, part II: the settlements

The settlements are a moral and practical disaster, but they are the symptom rather than the cause of Israel’s ills. This is the second in a series of three posts, examining arguments, which have resurfaced following the Carmel fire, that assign the blame for Israel’s problems to the ultra-orthodox or the settlements. To read the…

By Roi Maor December 9, 2010

Ultra Orthodox Jews (Photo: Wikipedia)

Carmel fire scapegoats, part I: The Ultra-Orthodox

In a series of three posts, I will examine arguments, which have resurfaced following the Carmel fire, that assign the blame for Israel’s problems to the ultra-orthodox or the settlements. In this first post, I argue that the ultra-orthodox play a marginal role both in Israel’s economic and social problems, and in the shaping of…

By Roi Maor December 8, 2010

Carmel fire: the price of the treasury’s policy

The firefighters’ lack of readiness not accidental, but a result of long-term economical policy. Last morning, making my Friday shopping at the local grocery, I heard a woman hissing that we should catch those Arabs who lit the fire on Thursday and burn them alive, like the 40 prison guards cadets. I butted in. “And…

By Yossi Gurvitz December 3, 2010

The Carmel disaster: My forest is on fire

The weird vibes actually started the day before. Something just didn’t feel right. And then it began. Cellcom, Israel’s largest cell provider, crashed. Totally. For the whole day. 3.5 million users with dead phones. Cellcom also happens to be the supplier of phones to the newspaper I work in – which meant that either reporters…

By Ami Kaufman December 3, 2010