Not enough gas masks
Photo: Avi Moallem
Shelters lacking in south
Photo: AP
Ministries admit: Israel not ready for war
Home Front not ready for full-out war, according to director-generals of government ministries. Millions to go without masks in case of nuclear, biologic, chemical war
As far as protecting the Home Front, Israel
is not ready for a full-out war - not this summer, and not the next - according to director-generals of government ministries.
“At the northern confrontation line, we are almost completely prepared for full sheltering. From the center of the country up to Akko, 70-80 percent are prepared, but the situation in the south is very bad,” Dinur admitted Wednesday.
“Israel has a ‘sheltering gap’ totaling NIS 5 million ($1.2 million),” said Ra'anan Dinur, director-general of the Prime Minister's Office. “That kind of gap doesn’t close immediately, and we won’t be ready this summer, or even next summer, to shelter all citizens.”
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Pinchas Buchris, the director-general of the Defense Ministry, added that there were problems with providing protective masks to resident in case of a nuclear, biologic, or chemical war.
“There is no solution right now for providing all citizens with masks in case of war, should it occur now. It isn’t possible to take care of millions of masks overnight,” Buchris said.
Dinur and Buchris spoke at a special press conference, called by several director-generals of government ministries.
Dinur claimed that the state was better prepared for war should it take place. “War lessons have been learned, and we are working towards implementing them. Not everything is done, but the direction is clear,” he said.
Aryeh Bar, the new Interior Ministry director-general, called for thorough structural and authoritative changes in local councils, in order to avoid similar situations to those that took place during the Second Lebanon War.
Bar explained, “If local council heads aren’t given authority, what can we expect of them? They don’t have authority with regards to education, health, or the police – what can we expect of them in a time of war?”
