Our forests are burning, yet the government is stoking the conflagration by cutting budgets.

ByJUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH JUNE 21, 2025

Israel boasts about its forests, encouraging people to visit nature areas and using them to promote donations from abroad to the Jewish National Fund – Keren Kayemet L’Yisrael (JNF-KKL) to plant trees. But the government does not act as if it hugs its flora – because it handicaps the National Fire and Rescue Authority.

It does this by drastically cutting the authority’s budget, so there is a chronic shortage of workforce and equipment; inadequate information relayed to the community (especially among children and youths); and the inability to adopt new techniques such as teaching dogs to identify chemicals used by arsonists.

Those who set fires accidentally or deliberately are not severely punished, if at all, so there is no deterrence. It’s easy to blame terrorists for the horrible destruction, but in many cases fires are caused by careless people barbecuing among the trees, Lag Ba’omer bonfires, Israeli military equipment, and workmen doing welding. Piles of transparent glass bottles could even (albeit rarely) act as a magnifying glass and set off sparks on a hot, dry day.

In 2025, wildfires in Israel destroyed more than 2,500 hectares of forest (25 square kilometers, or about 6,200 acres); one wildfire in 2021 burned about 10 sq. km. in the same general area. From 2001 to 2023, Israel lost 2,730 sq. km. (1,054 sq. miles). These fires also killed large and small mammals, insects, and baby birds in their nest that were burnt alive –  resulting in an ecological imbalance.

Since then, massive wildfires in the Jerusalem Hills have scorched some 20 sq. km. of open land, according to initial estimates by the Fire and Rescue Authority. The blaze destroyed 13 sq. km. of forest, severely damaging Canada Park, which is a popular recreational area. As the flames spread, several nearby communities were evacuated, and major sections of Highway 3 and Highway 1 – the main road connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv – were closed to traffic. About 100 firefighting teams battled the blaze for hours under difficult conditions, working to bring it under control; 21 firefighters suffered injuries from smoke inhalation.

TO PUT this in perspective, the area burned in this fire is about 80% of the damage caused by the 2010 Mount Carmel disaster – the worst and deadliest wildfire in the country’s history that killed 44 people and forced 17,000 to evacuate.

The government was asked to form a state commission of inquiry for the Carmel fires to learn from mistakes and be better prepared for the future, but it was never formed, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposed the initiative.

Israel’s Fire and Rescue Authority chronically faces lack of supplies, manpower

Already before the Carmel fires, the Fire and Rescue Authority had complained several times in the 2000s about a shortage of supplies and manpower. Some legislation was passed in the following years to settle disputes over its ministerial parent, then known as the Internal Security Ministry (now the National Security Ministry), streamlining some of the bureaucratic blockages. 

In 2022, its director-general, Tomer Lotan, pleaded in a special Knesset committee to purchase four aerial firefighting Black Hawk jets for use to combat fires. He warned that they weren’t a luxury but a necessity, and that it could not wait. However, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir disputed this, claiming it was a waste of money. The State Comptroller, in a critical report on the situation, did not agree with him and Netanyahu.

Since 2020, a total of 12 sq. km. of forests in the Galilee have been lost to fires. Additionally, an estimated 11.7 sq. km. were burned by the fire, with Canada Park almost entirely engulfed. By May 2025, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) estimated that around 20 sq. km. were destroyed in the fires, with 13 of those being woodland. Most of the trees were pines that were 40 to 50 years old, and it will take that long for them to grow to their height again.

At the end of May, a fire apparently caused by negligence in the Jerusalem Forest on the edge of the Yefe Nof neighborhood went on for hours, with helicopters and planes releasing tons of chemicals to overcome the fire, and many fire brigades called to duty. It also burned 20 sq. km. and endangered homes and killed fauna as well as flora.

This past Monday, yet another fire broke out at the Carmit Forest that threatened areas in southern Jerusalem. Nearly 40 teams of firefighters made their way to the site, and roads were closed to the public.

SHAI LEVY, head of research at the Israel Fire and Rescue Service, told In Jerusalem that the law is supposed to punish people who cause fires due to negligence with three years’ imprisonment; and if the fires are set intentionally, arsonists can be jailed for up to 20 years. However, such punishment by the courts is almost unheard of.

Global warming has raised the incidence of forest fires in Israel. “There are many heat waves, and the undergrowth is drier, so the weeds are more combustible. There should be wider spaces between lines of trees. By June, we are already reaching the condition of October, following months of no rain. This is very dangerous,” Levy said. “I am very worried.”

Around the developed world, even before climate change, it was accepted that there should be one firefighter per 1,000 people; but in Israel, there is only one per 4,000. “We need more professionals, but our budget, which was drastically cut by the Treasury, won’t allow it. We need to unite all professionals who deal with fires. 

“A major problem,” Levy lamented, “is that firefighters – men and women – are not recognized as security personnel like the police and Israel Defense Forces, even though we wear uniforms. So salaries are low: a gross wage of only NIS 9,000 for those who start working for us.”

THERE ARE 4,000 staffers in the authority; 2,100 of them actually fight fires, and the rest are coordinators and information people. Fire fighters have 24-hour shifts, and are then off for 48 hours.

“Salaries could go up if we were recognized as security personnel,” the authority’s head researcher said. “Deaths that occur on the job are handled only by the National Insurance Institute, not the defense establishment.

“We have volunteer firemen who are trained, and they assist us. But fires continue to take place. Some people carelessly leave Shabbat or Hanukkah candles lit and leave their homes, only to find that their homes have burnt down,” he said.

“Every family must install smoke alarms in their homes. Some people fix electrical problems themselves instead of hiring licensed electricians. People fall asleep with cigarettes in their hand, Levy said. 

There are some signs of improvement, though. “Lag Ba’omer bonfires are becoming more ecological, smaller, contained, and supervised. And people are more careful now when burning leaven before Passover.”

Some settlements have used sheep and cows to munch on weeds nearby to reduce the risk of fires, but the profession of shepherds is considered lowly, he said, so they are few and far between. In Los Angeles, there are companies that rent out sheep to consume the weeds. There are more than 200 specially trained dogs in US fire services that can identify nine types of chemicals used by arsonists. Immediately after the fires are extinguished, the dogs are brought in to smell out the chemicals, thus identifying cases of arson and deterring arsonists.

“We used dogs for a while, but we stopped because we didn’t have the budget for it – but we are interested in resuming it,” said Levy, whose doctorate focused on forest fires. We need twice the budget we get from the government.”

FIRE DEPUTY chief Avi Ben-Zaken, who is head of the operations division, told In Jerusalem that he didn’t know yet what caused the forest fire near Yefe Nof. “If it’s negligence and we discover who did it, they are warned; I don’t recall anybody being fined or otherwise punished for this, even though it costs the Fire Service a lot of money; and arsonists should be punished severely.”

Ben-Zaken stressed that the service tries to teach the public, especially youngsters in kindergarten and elementary schools, and elderly people in retirement residences, about the danger of fire and how to prevent it. 

“Teachers have to register with us so that someone will come to speak or receive classes in fire stations. We work with municipalities, but we can’t reach everybody,” he said. “Education is the most important thing.” 

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