Joint Greek Israeli fire fighting training

Indeed, Israeli firefighters were incorporated in the hiking group of 1st Disaster Task Force (EMAK) and participated in fighting fires with their Greek colleagues in various parts of Greece, particularly in Cephalonia, Rhodes, Kalamata and Delfinos, gaining valuable experience and further strengthening the cooperation between fire brigades Israel-Greece.
To see the training of the Israeli firemen, the newly designated Ambassador of Israel, Ms. Irit Ben- Aba visited 1^stEMAK facilitieson 27 August and was welcomed by the Head of the Greek Fire Brigade, lieutenant general Vasilis Papageorgiou and 1st EMAK commander, fire-chief Athanasios Serentellos. The purpose of the visit was to thank Mr. Papageorgiou for hosting Israeli team and to listen to what the Israeli and Greek firefighters had to say about their cooperation, which was excellent. Ms. Ben -Ampa stressed the importance attached by the Israeli Government to bilateral cooperation in the field of civil protection.
The visiting of Israeli firefighters was the result of a decision by the Heads of the Fire Brigades of Israel and Greece, Israeli Fire and Rescue Commissioner, Mr. Shahar Ayalon and lieutenant general Vasilios Papageorgiou Kingdom during the forner's visit to Greece in early June with an Israeli delegation to attend an international European fire drill.
It was preceded by a visit of Mr Papageorgiou to Israel with a Greek delegation on 17-20 March in the context of strengthening the cooperation between Israel and Greece in the field of civil protection and the Joint Declaration signed by the Ministers of Public Order of the two countries in October 2013 .
It should be noted that Greece and Israel have developed strong bonds of solidarity in fighting fires and natural disasters for decades. Examples include the assistance provided by the Israeli Navy to residents of Kefalonia after the earthquake of 1953, the participation of a group of Israelis in the rescue operations after the earthquake in Athens in 1999, the assistance of Israeli firefighters to fires in the Peloponnese in 2007, as well as the assistance provided by Greek firefighters and Greek firefighting aircraft crews in forest fire on Mount Carmel in Israel in 2010.
As part of their collaboration, the two fire brigades have decided to move to exchanging expertise on issues such as addressing forest fires and hazardous material management.