Firefighting aircraft
Photo: Reuters
Wise after the fact
Op-ed: Had Israel invested in firefighting aircraft, papers would blast the ‘great waste’
In our bloody history we have seen greater disasters, most certainly in the last few decades: The Tyre disaster with 76 casualties; the helicopter disaster that claimed the lives of more than 70 people; the Dakar submarine disaster where nearly 70 sailors were lost at sea.
Yet all these wise writers and people asking questions will not (and will never) have an answer for what’s better to spend the State of Israel’s money on, firefighting aircraft or an F-15 fighter jet? Two more wards at the Sheba and Ichilov hospitals, or another hour of studies at a central Israel high school?
However, it appears that never before had we experienced a disaster of this magnitude in the State of Israel’s home front.
At this time already, and most certainly next week, everyone will be asking (after the fact, of course) why and how and what, and all those questions people ask the “morning after.”
Carmel Blaze
Ron Ben-Yishai
Op-ed: Fire shows how neglected infrastructure may lead to Israel’s national collapse
And after all, these people who are now asking the tough questions would have blasted officials had they spent large amounts of money on firefighting aircraft that are only used one day a year. “The great waste,” the newspapers would have called it.
This is apparently not the right time to engage in self-reflection on matters of expenses and accounting. This is a day of tears, pain, regret, and clenched teeth over the tragedy and the misfortune that befell the State of Israel the other day.
It is also a day and time for saluting the Prison Service members, police officers and firefighters who lost their lives in this national disaster, which saw the Chanukah candle-lighting blessings being replaced by the sad reciting of the Kaddish.
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