国际英语新闻：As massive fire is contained, Israeli political feuding begins over who to blame

"The procedure of ordering and budgeting is a long, bureaucratic process," Yishai explained.

The Prime Minister's Bureau in Jerusalem on Sunday turned the blame to the fire services. The bureau's Director-General Eyal Gabai told Army Radio that the Netanyahu government has allocated a larger budget for purchasing fire-fighting equipment than any previous government.

Gabai added that the bureau turned to the fire services and rescue commissioner several months ago to inquire about fire- fighting aircraft, but received no answer.

Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, who oversees the home front readiness, on Saturday laid doubt on Yishai's performance, suggesting that the responsibility for the fire services be transferred to the Public Security Ministry.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Finance Ministry has begun assessing the damages caused by the inferno over the past three days. According to initial estimates, the damages may amount to a billion U.S. dollars, with damage to homes making up some 245 million dollars of that sum.

At the weekly cabinet session, held in a community not far from the scene of the blaze, a decision was made to immediately release 60 million shekels (about 16.3 million U.S. dollars) to residents of the communities stricken by the fires.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak told cabinet members that the state will foot the bill for "any cost that the insurance won't" in order to restore the region.

Netanyahu opened the session with a call to his ministers to come up with ways to repair the immense damage from the fires. After a minute's silence in memory of the victims, he told ministers that he expected to see results, "and not bureaucracy," in dealing with the rehabilitation of the area.