Jerusalem kids during Tuesday's drill
Photo: AP
Siren test catches central Israel residents by surprise
Sirens activated simultaneously in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Givatayim and additional cities as part of Home Front Command's nationwide drill, stirring panic among residents who feared Israel may be under attack
Another siren test conducted by the Home Front Command in central Israel Wednesday afternoon caught some of the area's residents by surprise.
Large Exercise
Hanan Greenberg
Sirens sound throughout Israel at 11 am, civilians asked to enter sheltered areas as part of large exercise simulating two-front war; however, sirens fail to go off, some sheltered areas remain closed. 'What will happen in a real emergency?' employee at Rosh Ha'ayin industrial park asks
The minute-long sirens were heard simultaneously in Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Holon, Kiryat Ono and Givat Shmuel at around 5:30 pm, prompting residents to flood Ynet's news desk with red emails reporting of the unanticipated alarms.
"It was pretty scary," said Zur Ginosar, a Tel Aviv resident. "We knew there was a drill yesterday, but I thought it had ended. I didn’t follow the today's reports in the various media outlets."
Barak Faglin, also of Tel Aviv, told Ynet "we heard the siren vividly. It was really stressful. No one knew it was a drill because people in Tel Aviv are kind of disconnected. Mothers, adults and entire families were in a state of panic."
Miki Weiss of Kiryat Ono said he assumed the siren was part of the nationwide drill because "with all due respect to Kiryat Ono, there are other targets that (Israel's enemies) would want to attack first," but complained that residents were "not sufficiently informed" ahead of Wednesday's siren test.
"Where were the flyers in the mailboxes and messages on bulletin boards at the shopping centers?" he said. "We also have an elderly population here; some of them could have gotten a heart attack."
Earlier Wednesday, the Home Front Command held an additional siren test in the Upper Galilee region.
The nationwide Home Front drill titled "Turning Point 3", which was launched on Sunday, culminated at 11 am Tuesday when sirens sounded throughout the country and residents were asked to enter sheltered areas.
However, several malfunctions were reported. In some parts of the country, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the sirens did not sound at all or were weak, and in others sheltered public areas remained closed.
