Israeli Disaster Team on Its Way to Japan
As Japan reels from a deadly earthquake and tsunami, Israel’s government and trained volunteers are already on the way to help victims.
“We are sending a small group on its way to assess what can be done,” was Sunday morning’s dispatch from Shachar Zahavi, the founder and coordinator of IsraAID, the Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid.
Zahavi’s statement came in response to the national emergency in Japan, hit on Friday by a massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake. The earthquake set in motion a 20-foot tsunami and has caused massive destruction and loss of life in coastal towns in Japan, as well as its capital city, Tokyo. To make matters more perilous, the Fukushima nuclear reactor north of Tokyo is hanging by a thread as local authorities try to prevent a complete meltdown.