Israel helping others

The IDF is training foreigners how to deal with crises:

In keeping with its policy of sharing its extensive expertise with the world, the IDF’s Home Front Command last week hosted more than three dozen foreign emergency personnel for the third course in Crisis Site Management, aimed at teaching them how to deal with anything from shopping center bombings to earthquakes.

“We don’t keep secret the methods we developed to save lives. This is not something we need to keep to ourselves or want to. We want to share our knowledge with everyone,” said Col. Shalom Ben-Arieh, commander of the IDF’s National Search and Rescue and Civil Defense School.

Ben-Arieh is responsible for training the country’s emergency personnel, including firemen, police, Zaka (Disaster Victims Identification), and the Home Front Command’s own search and rescue reserve and standing units.

“We can be ready within 15 minutes on a helicopter to be sent anywhere in the country,” Ben-Arieh told The Jerusalem Post.

Okay, I’m guessing they can’t say that about a country as large as America, but I’m betting we have a lot to learn from them (*cough*Katrina*cough*).

Here’s the Big Ironic Twist:

Participating countries include the United States, Brazil, Great Britain, Germany, Canada, China, Hungary, Poland and Greece, the IDF Spokesman said.

There were other countries represented, but they do not have diplomatic relations with Israel and asked not to be mentioned.

Hm. What countries don’t have diplomatic relations with Israel and wouldn’t want it known that they were working with the “Zionist entity” to learn how to save lives? Let’s think… gee… could they be members of the OIC?

And on the heels of that, Globes reports that Israeli exports to Arab countries are up 26% in the first nine months of 2005.

So they’ll learn from Israel and buy from Israel, but they won’t stop trying to destroy Israel. There’s a disconnect here.