No, there is no ‘arson intifada’ by mysterious Palestinian sleeper cells. Still, it’s very likely that in the next few years we’ll suffer a blaze lasting a week or more, and fire chief Eyal Caspi is preparing
Nir Hasson. Apr 25, 2025
The conversation between journalists and firefighters on fires in open land is always the same. The journalists ask about the cause and the officer replies that people are to blame, because in Israel there’s no lightning in the summer and there are no active volcanoes. So all fires are caused by people.
The next question is: “Are you also investigating possible arson?” The officer replies that all aspects are being investigated, and he sometimes throws in a hint about possible arson because the fire broke out at the same time in several places. So a few minutes later, Israelis’ phones are inundated with push notifications: “suspicion of arson.”
Everybody is happy with all this. The media receives the well-worn story that this is a terror attack by arson, a story letting you skirt complicated issues like climate change, wind velocity and humidity. The firefighters and police are portrayed as heroes fighting terror, and they avoid thorny questions about their performance. The public, meanwhile, receives more corroboration of the conspiracy theory that all big fires are set by mysterious Palestinian arson cells.
Fire chief Eyal Caspi, who has been on the job since 2022, broke this mold in a briefing with journalists Tuesday night during the fire in the Jerusalem Hills. Caspi, unlike countless police and army officers, and unlike almost all of our political leaders from Benjamin Netanyahu on down, wasn’t tempted to blame somebody else. And he wasn’t afraid of the truth, even if it’s complicated. He looked the public in the eye and said that the world had changed and we must change with it.
“This fire advanced at eight meters [26 feet] per second; that’s unrivaled,” he said. “When we talk about global warming, this is the reality. This summer we’ll have to deal with a lot of events; we have to be alert and careful.” Caspi said the blaze broke out in one spot and arson wasn’t suspected. Strong winds spread the flames.
We heard the Palestinian-arson conspiracy theory whenever there were big fires over the past decade. Irresponsible politicians spoke of an “arson intifada” and said that “anyone who loves this country doesn’t set it on fire.”
Still, to this day, no one has been charged with arson based on such political motives. Israel’s politicians aren’t the exception. As fires increase around the world due to the changing climate, a raft of countries have found ways to blame the Other. Turks blame the Kurds, Moroccans the Berbers, Greeks the immigrants and Americans the LGBTQ community.
But even with the arsonists out of the equation, the blazes will still rage – every day dozens of fires break out in Israel in open areas. Often we don’t hear about them because they go out by themselves, or firefighters put them out before they become a national disaster.
The overwhelming majority of conflagrations are a result of negligence. Hikers fail to put out their fire, a farmer burns branches that he chopped down, or the deed is done by someone like a welder or a soldier firing a flash bomb. And every minute in Israel, around 8,000 cigarette butts are thrown to the ground.
What can’t be taken out of the equation is the changing climate; fires in open areas are a major sign of climate change. The fatal Carmel fire of 2010 broke out in December after an extremely dry autumn. The wave at the end of November 2016 came toward the end of Israel’s hottest year at the time after nine months of extreme dryness. The conflagration in Jerusalem in 2021 erupted after a summer of extreme heat that left shrubs parched.
Similarly, Wednesday’s fire broke out on Israel’s hottest April day ever – 44.9 degrees Celsius (112.8 Fahrenheit) at Moshav Hatzeva in the south. This followed a harsh drought and a dry spring, during humidity at a paltry 8 percent.
“The fire flew because of the very low humidity,” says Shay Levy, the head of research and open areas at the fire service. “It goes with the trend we know of the expanding fire season – it’s something we see all over the world. It’s a challenge and has to be treated differently.”
Unlike most Israeli government organizations, the fire service seems to be doing a good job preparing for the new reality. First, firefighters are on alert every time there are warnings of dangerous weather. Second, they’re attacking fires faster and with as large a force as possible, including the massive use of aerial firefighting.
This week, firefighters employed a new method from the air: hurling water from an air force transport plane that can operate at night. The results were clear. Even though the flames devoured thousands of acres and approached three communities, no house was burned. And the only people hurt were three firefighters suffering smoke inhalation.
But this relative success promises nothing. To ensure the people’s safety and property, as well as the landscape, Israel will have to bolster the fire and rescue service. For two days, firefighters worked in 24-hour shifts, and some took naps on the roadside so they could get back to the job later.
It’s very likely that in the next few years we’ll see an extreme fire lasting a week or more. It might rage in the Jerusalem Hills, on Haifa’s Mount Carmel and in the Galilee at the same time. Haifaand dozens of communities near woodlands could be threatened.
If this scenario takes place, firefighters won’t be able to handle the multiple fronts. According to a scenario drawn up at the Technion, Israel’s MIT, the fire service is 1,400 firefighters short to adequately deal with blazes.
Good firefighting services are the last element in tackling the problem of blazes in open areas. Local governments must create buffer zones around residential areas, and the public must be trained to recognize dangerous days. On such days, not only should you not set a fire, you shouldn’t go anywhere near the woods.
At the same time, farmers, the army and hikers must change their behavior in open areas. As with other issues, whether sharks near the beaches, public transportation, personal safety or national security, we can’t rely on the current government to do the right thing. In this case, the issue is educating the public about fires in the era of climate change.