Military sources on Tuesday told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the total cost for the firefighting aircraft squadron could be NIS 1 billion ($280 million). The decision to form such a squadron was taken following the devastating fires on the Carmel range near Haifa.
Civilian sources, as well as the CN Airways company whose small planes took part in firefighting efforts on Mount Carmel, says such a squadron can be set up at a far lower cost. According to Ynet research, the cost of each plane sentby Greece during the blaze was $26 million. The cost of maintenance must also be taken into account.
The planned squadron, which will include between four and six medium-sized aircraft similar to those sent by Greece to assist Israel ,has already been presented to Defense Minister Ehud Barak .Now the plan, including costs, is to be presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu .It is not yet clear whether the plan as proposed by the IDF and IAF will be approved.
The issue of costs will not be easy to solve, especially with the disagreements between the Finance Ministry and the Defense Ministry regarding the budget for the next two years. The cost of the squadron is not currently included in the proposed budget.