Israel: 18 people suspected of involvement in criminal fires arrested
The cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that 18 people suspected of being involved in criminal fires were arrested.
126 firefighters are fighting fires in six sectors
126 teams of firefighters are currently operating in the vast fire area, with the help of fire -fighting aircraft, in six main sectors: Burma, Eshtaol, Sainted Forest, Canada Park, Shaar Hagaï, Shosh Neve Ilan and Nataf. The head of the Israeli firefighters, Eyal Caspi, gave instruction to all the commanders of the different zones to concentrate their efforts as much as possible in the coming hours, in order to try to take control of fire households by noon before the winds intensify. “Firefighters work in difficult conditions, with heroism, dedication and real ferocity,” he said. “The teams have been working for long hours, almost without break or rest, from yesterday morning until now, and will continue to work with great intensity in the coming days. Firefighters prove again and again that the citizens of Israel can have confidence in them, “he added.
Due to the devastating fires rampant in the Jerusalem region, the authorities have chosen to cancel the planned events and they will transmit rehearsals instead. This is why Eli Sharabi who was not rehearsing will not appear on television this Wednesday evening.
Most people to whom this honor, considered one of the most prestigious Israeli distinctions, are awarded are unanimous personalities: ancient hostages, war heroes, bereaved families and cultural icons, in accordance with this year: “The bridges of hope”.
However, some have aroused reactions and criticisms, in particular in the tense political context of a country whose divisions accentuated during an exhausting war still in progress. Some eminent personalities have even publicly refused this distinction.
The official ceremony, broadcast simultaneously on the four main television channels, was followed live last year by more than a million Israelis. While traditionally, twelve people are chosen to light the twelve torches -in reference to the twelve tribes of Israel in the Bible -, this year is in number thirty -five, the Minister of Transport Miri Regev, organizer of the event, having declared that it was impossible to reduce the number.
Each of the twelve torches will be lit by three people, with the exception of that symbolizing the hostages, which will be lit by two people, in order to underline the absence of the 59 captives always retained in Gaza.
Among the best known personalities who will go on stage, let us quote singer Zehava Ben, the Omri Casspi and Deni Avdija basketball players, the Olympic Olympic medalist, the ex-hostages Emily Damari and Eli Sharabi, as well as Rachel Edry, heroine of October 7.
The two personalities having aroused the most controversy are diametrically opposed: Dana International, winner of Eurovision and transgender icon, and Ben Shapiro, commentator (very) American conservative.
Dana International, who won Eurovision in 1998 with her song “Diva”, is undoubtedly the best known transgender personality in Israel and an icon in the LGBTQ+ community in her country and abroad. Shapiro, a very controversial television and podcast host who has many subscribers, said that transgender people suffered from mental disorders and that homosexuality was a sin.
Initially, Dana International had declined the invitation to light a torch, saying that it did not want to be recognized only as an artist and not as an activist. But faced with a surge of positive and negative reactions, the singer turned around, writing on social networks: “I always thought that we could change reality, that we could connect people, that everyone had to accept. Sometimes, to get there, you have to fight. The fight for change takes many ways. »»
The artist added that the torchlight ignition ceremony is “a celebration for all of us … I hope we do what it takes. I would also like to see who is this shapiro. »»
Shapiro, who is not an Israeli citizen, is the founder of the information site The Daily Wire, host of the radio and very popular podcast “The Ben Shapiro Show”, and one of the most influential voices on the American right.
He has long been a leading pro-Israel activist in the American media landscape, and his defense of the Hebrew state and his activism against anti-Semitism on university campuses have refined and intensified following the pogrom perpetrated by the Palestinian terrorist group of Hamas on October 7, 2023. Homosexual rights, and uses incendiary language to attack its opponents.
Questioned this week at the Knesset by a journalist about his presence on stage alongside Dana International, Shapiro replied in a diplomatic way: “If you want to know my political opinions, I have a program, you can listen to it every day”, before refusing to say more.
The choice of Dana International was disputed by Israeli conservative groups as well as by the openly homophobic deputy Avi Maoz. The decision to honor Shapiro has arranged the anger of the associations of defense of the rights of people from the LGBTQ+community.
If Dana International has finally agreed to participate in the ceremony this year, the singer Yardena Arazi declined the invitation, invoking the “period of political instability” that Israel is going through. She wrote on social networks that she was “painted” by current reality and that she hoped “better and more united days, where political spirit would become a fundamental value of Israeli public life”.
Singer Boaz Sharabi explained that he had declined the invitation only for reasons of schedule, while Regev denied the information according to which the five observation soldiers who had been removed and retained hostage in Gaza would have refused this honor. The ex-hostage, and soldier, Agam Berger should play the violin during the ceremony, as part of a musical program.
The first torch will be on Wednesday evening on Wednesday evening by the former Damari.
Sharabi, whose wife Lianne and the girls Noiya and Yahel were murdered on October 7, was abducted at home in the Kibbutz Beeri. His brother, Yossi Sharabi, was also taken hostage and killed in captivity, probably following a strike from the Israeli army. Eli was released in the context of a cease-fire agreement in February and, since then, he has largely expressed himself in public on the horrors he experienced in captivity and the need to bring all those who are still there.
The photo of Damari, the day she was released in January, raising her hand, to which she missed two fingers following a ball injury suffered during her kidnapping in the Kibbutz of Kfar Aza, quickly became a symbol of Israeli courage and resilience after release.
Emily Damari (right) and her mother, Mandy, taking a video call with family members after her return from Hamas captivity on January 19, 2025. (Credit: Israeli army)
The Tsahal symbolizing torch will be lit by Lieutenant-Colonel Faez Fares, a Druze commander who fought in the Kibbutz Reïm on October 7; By Lieutenant-Colonel (Res.) Hagit Alon Elharar, who was evacuated from his home in the North and lost his son, Sergeant Amicitay Alon, 19, during a drone attack from the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group in Hezbollah in October 2024, but which continues to serve in the reserve; And by Inbar Ben-Simon, whose husband, Raz, served for several months in the reserve during the war.
The torch symbolizing mutual responsibility will be lit by the rabbi Shaï Graucher-an ultra-Orthodox militant who created a charitable organization to help the TSAhal soldiers, the evacuated people, the widows and, more recently, the released hostages; by Orly Robinzon – interior designer who helped Israelis evacuated to settle in their new home; And by Haïm Taïb – Multimillionaire and philanthropist businessman who directs the African branch of Save in Child’s Heart and founded the Menomadin Foundation to strengthen Israeli resilience.
Times of Israël.
