
Ran Levy
Inside the Israeli delegation that helped fight the Los Angeles wildfires
The Israeli delegation worked with members of Cal Fire, California’s fire and forestry service, to discuss strategies and tactics, and shared technologies that they use to monitor and analyze wildfires
Amid the wildfires that are still raging in the Los Angeles area, a group of 14 volunteers and emergency responders from Israel deployed to Southern California to provide expertise and assistance to those working to bring the series of wildfires tearing through the city and its outskirts under control.
The group included experienced members of Israel’s fire service, the Israel Defense Forces and the nonprofit Emergency Volunteers Project. The Israeli delegation worked with members of Cal Fire, California’s fire and forestry service, to discuss strategies and tactics, and shared technologies that they use to monitor and analyze wildfires.
Shay Levy, the head of the wildfire branch at the Israeli National Fire and Rescue Authority and a member of the delegation, told Jewish Insider, “Firefighters all over the world are brothers, so we’re trying to help our brother to fight the fire, this disaster and … America is the best friend of Israel. So you have to help your friend when they’re in trouble.”
Levy has a Ph.D. in wildfire ecology and management and wrote a book about a past wildfire in Israel. He has been researching “ember attacks” — when strong winds take embers from fires airborne and allow them to spread rapidly — which were a significant issue as the Los Angeles fires spread.
“We try to share knowledge about how we can deal with this problem because it’s not a local problem,” Levy said. “If you have a global problem, you have to find a global solution.”
He said that he and other members of the Israeli delegation worked with California’s firefighters to offer advice and new approaches, combine their knowledge and expertise and share technical tools.
Another member of the delegation, Levy said, was a data analysis specialist from the IDF, who worked with a team of 40 people based in Israel to help track and analyze data about the fire’s spread and impacts, which Levy said provided insight about the fire and how to prevent future blazes.
Others in the delegation, which returned to Israel last week after approximately a week in California, included experts in water management, logistics and search and rescue.

Adi Zahavi, the CEO of EVP, said he worked with his EVP colleague Elazar Cohen, Israeli Fire Commissioner Eyal Caspi and others from the fire service to organize the delegation. He said that the delegation was in the field in Los Angeles from the moment it arrived, splitting up across different missions.
“We were very happy to learn that things that we offered and we taught actually were implemented in the field while the delegation was there,” Zahavi said.
Israel’s consul general in Los Angeles, Israel Bachar, who worked with the California government to arrange for and facilitate the Israeli delegation’s visit, told JI that Israel wanted to “share our expertise and some technology and know-how to come help the people,” in recognition of the relationship between the U.S. and Israel.
“Even when we are under pressure, under crisis, we still want to share some resources and help America,” Bachar said, referring to the war in Gaza and attacks from the Houthis and other Iranian proxies that have required Israeli emergency services. “Israelis feel that America is their family. It’s a family relationship. It’s not only about interest or shared values. It’s really a family that goes along many years together, generation after generation.”
In an unusual step, the Israeli government told California’s leaders they would not bear any costs for the delegation’s visit. All costs were covered by EVP and its supporting donors.
Despite some people sharing antisemitic and anti-Israel content related to the fires, the firefighters said that they met an overwhelmingly positive reception from their counterparts and the local community. “We came to give a huge hug for the community and for the firefighters, but we got an incredible hug back,” Zahavi said, adding that there was nowhere the team went where it was not welcomed.
The members of the delegation said it also helped show a different side of Israel to the local community. “Some of them have never [met] an Israeli, and they hear about Israel only from the news, and suddenly we are friends,” Levy said. “I think it’s really, really important … We feel that we are the ambassadors of Israel.”
Bachar also credited Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), who represents the Pacific Palisades area that was ravaged by the fires, as having played a key role in working with Gov. Gavin Newsom to arrange the visit.
“It’s inspirational,” Sherman told JI, of the Israeli delegation, in a brief conversation at the Capitol last week. “I think they’re going to come back. There’s a lot of work to do over the many months to come. The whole world is focused on the Palisades today. We’re going to need help over the coming months, and a lot of it is technical. It’s great to have them out there.”
The Israeli delegation met with Sherman, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman and Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, as well as members of the local Jewish community.
Zahavi also offered thanks to the Israeli airline El Al, which helped transport the team to Los Angeles on short notice, and to Rabbi Pini Dunner of the Beverly Hills Synagogue, which helped support the delegation.

Outside of the firefighting assistance, the Israeli consulate has also been providing services to displaced members of the Jewish community, including kosher food.
This wasn’t the first time firefighters from Israel and California have worked together. Firefighting partnerships between the two have been operating for years, and some of the same Israeli firefighters were in California and trained with American firefighters in 2020.
Levy said that the delegation provided an opportunity for both sides to learn from each other and share knowledge that each side will be able to apply going forward, and they’re planning further work together in the future.
“It was an honor to work with the people from the great friend of Israel. They’re really amazing,” Levy said. “We don’t have any events on this scale. It’s like a war … We came together, worked together and we learned a lot from our colleagues.”
“I have new friends,” he continued. “I really feel blessed to come here, to take part in this delegation.”
Zahavi said that Cal Fire will soon be sending a delegation of fire chiefs to Israel, and vice versa, to continue to build on the California-Israel firefighting relationship going forward, exchanging further training and expertise.