As no foul play declared in B’Tselem blaze, Netanyahu mocks accusers

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday hit back at those who rushed to blame him for a fire that gutted the B’Tselem human rights group offices in Jerusalem, after an investigation found the blaze was caused by an electric short circuit.

At a Likud faction meeting in the Knesset, the prime minister chided his critics for quickly condemning him and his political allies over the blaze.

“Our opponents rushed to condemn, even before the flames were extinguished. Before the fire investigators even arrived at the scene, left-wing MKs and NGO heads charged that I and the national camp were directly responsible for the fire,” he said.

“Well, I don’t know if there was arson involved. All signs point to an electrical short, but maybe they will still blame me for the short. I won’t be surprised.”

A number of politicians and activists spoke out against Netanyahu late Sunday night as the fire ripped through the office building of the NGO, which has frequently been the target of right-wing opprobrium.

Fire investigators confirmed Monday afternoon that the flames stared through an electrical fault.

“There were no signs of break in or any evidence to show arson,” said leading fire investigator Moshe Alazari in a report summarizing the findings of an investigation into the blaze by the fire service and police investigators.

The report found that an electric short circuit started a fire in the acoustic ceiling of the B’Tselem offices and the flames quickly spread down to the rooms below, destroying most of the contents.

The B’Tselem first-floor offices were empty at the time of the fire and there were no injuries there. However, fire fighters rescued a cantor trapped at a synagogue on the building’s fourth floor who was then taken to Hadassah Hospital in the Ein Kerem neighborhood. He suffered from smoke inhalation and his injuries were described as “very light.”

The fire sent thick smoke rising through the building, causing serious damage throughout the structure, the investigators said.

Security camera footage that emerged Monday afternoon appeared to show the electrical short that caused the fire.

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“We are breathing freely again after the announcement of the fire services that in all likelihood there was an electrical short circuit,” B’Tselem said in a statement. “We’re going back to normal.”

Earlier reports said the speed with which the fire spread supported suspicions of arson.

The NGO had come under fire from Netanyahu and others over the weekend following an expose that found activists linked to the group were helping track down Palestinians who forge economic ties with Israel for punishment.

On Monday morning, B’Tselem Director Hagai El-Ad told Army Radio that whether or not the fire turned out to have been caused by arson, there has been a “harsh and dangerous atmosphere of incitement against human rights activists and especially people and organizations working for human rights in the [West Bank].”

While criticism was legitimate, he continued, and his organization welcomed any opportunity to conduct a “substantive debate,” organizations like B’Tselem were being persecuted as part of an “atmosphere” running from the Prime Minister’s Office, through the Justice Ministry to right-wing groups such as Im Tirtzu.

JTA contributed to this report.