Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelah says that while Israel should apprehend and punish arsonists “according to the criteria used for terrorism, there is no less danger in inflaming a collective fire in the face of the Arab Israeli public.”
What Israel needs now “is thoughtful, not gung-ho, leadership,” he adds.
Speaking at a cultural event in central Israel, the MK praises the “courage and dedication of the firefighters. What we have seen over the past few days emphasizes the need to strengthen the home front, because in some scenarios of a military confrontation the picture could be far more dire.”
Shelah proposes the establishment of a civil security force, “to which everyone who is not accepted for military service can be sent, and which will be [embedded] in agencies such as the police, fire service and rescue services.”
MK Ofer Shelah (Yesh Atid) seen during the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset, during the committee’s vote on a new chairman, on Monday, May 12, 2014. (Flash90)
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