Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu slams ‘whitewashing of the arson phenomenon,’ blames official sources for ignoring intentional arson terror attacks.
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit) on Thursday slammed a “cover-up of arson” throughout the country, accusing officials of turning a blind eye to deliberate arson terrorism.
In an interview with Kol Hai Radio, Eliyahu stressed that for years, a large percentage of fires in Israel were the result of deliberate arson – but the public was kept in the dark.
“For years, they have hidden from the public that all of the fires in Israel are arson. They hid it, just like they did with Oslo, just like they did with the Disengagement. They preferred to hide it, to say that it wasn’t happening, to shove their heads in the sand. It’s worse than an ostrich.”
Eliyahu also attacked the policy of handing arsonists only light punishments.
“They end up in court, but we haven’t heard of any arsonist going in for 20 or 30 years. The punishment is very minor, and they know they can repeat [the arson]. They don’t have much to lose,” he noted.
Eliyahu noted that he is in contact with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who is responsible for the fire department, adding: “I’m not saying with certainty, but anyone who looks at Arab social networks sees the calls for arson. An Arab terrorist was caught in the Jerusalem area trying to start a fire.”
Though he stressed, “Not all Arabs are like that – we have to remember that,” he also noted that there is “violent education and culture” in parts of Arab society.
Commenting on the ongoing efforts to battle the flames, Eliyahu also criticized the expected budget cuts in the fire department for 2025.
“This cut is completely unnecessary. This is a cut of hundreds of millions of shekels. The damage from recent fires alone costs the country a lot more,” he said. “You can’t cut budges for these things – not for national security, not for police salaries, not for firefighting.”
Eliyahu also hinted that the budget cut was due to political rivalry between Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, but refrained from expanding on the issue. Instead, he said, “I hope for the good of the citizens of Israel that we will now be able to put the arguments aside.”
