Netanyahu Greets Israeli Aid Team Upon Return from Earthquake-Stricken Mexico

Pictured Above: Damage in the Mexican state of Oaxaca following a recent 8.2-magnitude earthquake, which was the strongest quake to hit Mexico in a century. Credit: Presidencia de la República Mexicana via Wikimedia Commons.

(JNS.org) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday welcomed home an IDF search-and-rescue delegation at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport upon their return from aiding earthquake-stricken Mexico.

“We are all proud of you. We all salute you,” Netanyahu said.

“You are the long arm of Israel, the long humanitarian arm that reaches around the world, across thousands of kilometers, and you show the true face of the state of Israel,” he said.

The Israeli aid mission—comprised of approximately 70 soldiers and officers from the IDF’s Home Front Command and the Israeli Air Force—was dispatched to Mexico on the eve of Rosh Hashanah following a major 7.1-magnitude earthquake that hit about 76 miles southeast of Mexico City, killing hundreds.

Israel’s search-and-rescue team—led by Col. (res.) David Mizrachi—was the largest aid mission to assist Mexico, the first to arrive on the scene and the last to leave. 

Just days prior to Netanyahu’s visit to Mexico in early September, Israel had also sent aid to the country following a previous 8.2-magnitude earthquake.