Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked a host of foreign countries Friday for their assistance in fighting Israel's largest-ever fire near the northern port city of Haifa, DPA reported.
He made a point of mentioning by name his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who sent two planes to assist.
Relations between Israel and Turkey were marred in May, when Israeli naval forces intercepted a Turkey ship carrying pro- Palestinian activists and aid to the Gaza Strip, killing nine of the activists.
Netanyahu also thanked Greece, Cyprus, Britain, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Spain, Jordan, Egypt and Russia for offering firefighter planes and equipment, and called the international assistance to Israel "unprecedented."
He promised all residents of Carmel region who have been affected by the disaster, and said his government would purchase planes equipped to fight fires.
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