A forest fire that broke out on December 8th and consumed 5,000 ha atop picturesque Mount Carmel resulted in significant domestic and foreign political fallout. Although not large by international standards, the fire was by far the biggest in Israeli history and, in a single tragic incident in which a bus was engulfed by the fast-moving flames, claimed 43 lives and shook the country.

Israeli fire-fighters were overwhelmed by the blaze and Mr Netanyahu was obliged to seek aid from overseas. Among the unexpected donors was Turkey. Israel has had frosty relations with Turkey ever since Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in late 2008 and even more so after commandos killed nine Turkish citizens aboard a ship trying to break Israel's Gaza embargo last May. Mr Netanyahu personally thanked the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for the aid, and the two sides met in Geneva in a bid to defuse the tensions arising from the commando raid.

Almost certainly, Turkey offered the aid as a means of breaking the diplomatic ice, and Israel was happy to respond. Nonetheless, the two sides failed to agree on a formula that would answer Turkey's demand for compensation to the victims as well as an official apology. Israel was prepared to pay compensation but would offer no more than "regret" for the deaths.

Meanwhile, the shortcomings of the fire-fighting services reverberated on the interior minister, Eli Yishai, who is also leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party. A damning report by the state comptroller cited neglect and red tape on the part of an array of ministries and other bodies, with Mr Yishai getting special mention. He was also pilloried in the media but refused to step down, rather accusing the media of targeting him as religious, right-wing and Sephardic. Although others clearly need to share some of the blame, both Mr Yishai and Shas are under growing internal and external pressure. In November the party expelled an outspoken Knesset member, Chaim Amsellem, trimming its representation in parliament to 10, while in mid-December it was again feuding with its coalition partner, Yisrael Beiteinu, over religious conversions, threatening another government crisis. For Mr Yishai, an early election may soon start to look like a source of possible salvation.