Netanyahu: Israel will provide all possible help to Nepal
Search and rescue team to depart shortly from Israel to region; will include doctors.
By DANA SOMBERG/MAARIV HASHAVUA, REUTERS Rescue workers search for bodies in Kathmandu after Nepal earthquake(photo credit: REUTERS)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday afternoon discussed with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon the situation in Nepal following the devastating earthquake that struck the Asian nation.It was agreed that a search and rescue team that would include doctors would depart for Nepal shortly and would land at a location near the disaster area in order to be prepared to arrive in Nepal when possible. Netanyahu sent his condolences to the people of Nepal from the people of Israel and said Israel would help in any way possible. Liberman said earlier on Saturday that a plane would be sent to evacuate Israelis from Nepal as soon as the airport in Katmandu, currently shut down, reopens. Yaron Meir, Israel's ambassador to Nepal, told Liberman that his staff members are safe and working from the yard of the embassy's compound due to damage sustained to the building. He said that since roads are blocked, vehicular movement is impossible.The embassy's staff is circling the area by foot, according to Meir, extending help to the injured while searching of Israelis in the area."We are considering dispatching rescue forces from New Delhi to Katmandu, as we did with the Nepali avalanche in October," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.