The Question Is Not If, But When: Israel Is Unprepared for the Next Mega-Fire

The Forum of Civil Society Organizations for the Prevention of Fires in Open Areas (which includes environmental and animal welfare organizations such as Greenpeace Israel, Magama Yeruka, Zalul, Hayim VeSiviva, Let the Animals Live, and others) warns the government again that the fire in the Ben Shemen forest this week is not just another isolated incident, but a reminder that Israel must prepare for the new reality of fires in the shadow of the escalating climate crisis.

"The culture of fires requires, first and foremost, strengthening the hands of the firefighters, emergency forces, and volunteers who work with dedication to save lives and property. At the same time, it is forbidden to treat such events as a decree of fate. While many countries in Europe are also dealing with giant fires these days, it is clear that the reality has changed, and Israel must also change its preparation concept," say the heads of the forum.

In the forum of organizations, they emphasize that giant fires are not just the result of a spark, but of a lack of sufficient preparation: the use of technological tools for fire prevention, land management, buffer zones, protection of settlements, early detection, and a coordinated and budgeted national plan between the various authorities. "Israel has the knowledge, the professionals, and the technologies. What is missing is a clear national plan and its implementation. The question is not whether the next fire will happen, but whether we will be surprised by it again, or whether we will finally start preparing for it and even prevent it."

According to data from the Fire and Rescue Commission from the end of 2025, the system is missing 977 firefighters, 163 fire trucks, and 32 stations. Because of this, the system is currently not prepared even for the 2018 reference scenario of three giant fires simultaneously. In addition, environmental organizations warn of a lack of technological tools for forecasting and early monitoring of risks and fires, and the absence of a definition and dedicated budgeting for open areas.

The organizations are calling for a comprehensive and long-term strategic plan and, in the immediate term, for the establishment of a dedicated national system for handling and preventing fires in open areas, which will operate as an integral part of the fire department but will specialize in this field exclusively: "In order to provide an immediate response this summer and prevent the next disaster, we demand to allocate a focused budget of about 160 million NIS intended entirely for building the dedicated force for open areas. This is a negligible investment: the damage from fires in open areas is estimated at over 3.5 billion shekels."

The first warning letter on the subject was sent by the heads of the environmental organizations to Benjamin Netanyahu and the Ministers of National Security and Environmental Protection, Itamar Ben Gvir and Idit Silman, already last month ahead of the August heat waves, the first of which hit us this week. "In recent years, we have witnessed a jump in the frequency and intensity of extreme events. Extreme heat loads, prolonged dryness, and strong winds are turning fires into a continuous national threat of increasing intensity. In the waves of fires that occurred following the war in the north alone, about 138.6 million square meters were burned, mostly natural woodland and nature areas, an area 2.5 times larger than the city of Tel Aviv," they emphasize.

These fires have devastating and immediate consequences: they not only endanger human lives but also destroy habitats and nature areas teeming with life, cause enormous economic damage to agriculture and local authorities, and in addition, emit huge amounts of carbon that only accelerate the climate crisis.