Good let's hope that this excerise does indeed help our emergency services and local authorities to prepare for the next war. But shouldn't part of the preparation have involved returning the gas masks that were taken away over a year ago and not returned like they were supposed to be? Are you sure the Kupat Holims are drilled too, because last war mine was shut tight and I had to scramble to find my cancer medications to 2 different kupat holims while we were under katusha fire here in the North! There must be all important information on Kupat Holims(which ones are open and have which medications), the local authorities must tell us how to get our kids and elderly out of harms way, and all other revelant information must be given not only in Hebrew and Russian but in ENGLISH, SPANISH, and ARAMIC too because not everyone's Hebrew is good!

I have looked in vain for reports of the mock 'war drill on the BBC. If this had been happening in the U.S. it would have been reported by the BBC. As usual when it comes to Israel's security and the risks faced daily by Israelis the BBC is not interested. Unbalanced reporting!

Ok, I was ready for the "simulated" attack, and the sirens at 10 am, having been duly warned by the announcements on the radio for the past few days. So, here I am at work in Petach Tikvah, and 10:00 has come and gone, but - no sirens. Just the sounds of the city. At least I know I'm safe, since apparently Petach Tikvah is such a "loser" city that the enemy probably won't bother with it.

I believe this is the main reason.

Most of the country waiting for the siren so we are prepared its only a phony drill.Feel sorry for the few tourists lying on the beach for sure they will have something to write on there postcards

We would not need any drills - our enemies would be staging drills. We allowed our enemies to get stronger, to build up the capacity to strike us. This drill is symbolic of our failure.

Don't want to hear it again, not ever!!

good luck!; Terry Preempt Preemptive Preemption.

Return of the gas mask kits would be nice because at this stage if there is a need to hold more than just a drill based on the use of chemical weapons there are going to be alot of dead people. When Barak got the defense job one of the first things he said was there would be no retrurn of the kits because he didnt want to send the wrong idea to Syria make Assad think Israel wanted a war. We gave in those kits because we were told they would be renevated and returned to us but they ended up being taken and stored. As far as chemcial attacks go, the public shelters that are fit for use are not equiped for chemcial warfare they are designed for conventional weapons, in the big cities like Tel Aviv which would be prime targets would it not worthwhile making at least some of these public shelters fit for use against attacks like that, in cities like those you have not only Israelis but thousands of tourists who are not prepared for an attack of any kind. The days when only parts of Israel were under threat from enemy bombers or short range missles are over today the enemy can hit every inch of the country today and the likes of Iran are getting alot more dangerous. Also giving the still strategic high ground in the Golan to Assad for a piece of paper promising peace is not worth it, territory is more valuable especialy with a country thats in Irans pocket. Of course any peace treaty would also mean billions of dolars worth of American weapons the same as Israel has making Syria even more dangerous if it decided to break the treaty and attack. What we did to the arabs in 1967 and what they did to us in 1973 should be proof enough that if your not alert you can be taken by surprise and defeated. HAVE FUN GUYS AND BE GLAD THEY ARE NOT REAL CASULATIES

outskirt of the village where I work... Excellent drill............... Thak you so much!!!

Whats the point when most of the bomb shelters are either locked or havent been used since the 60s. This whole event is a publicity stunt by Olmert to try and show he is doing something to protect citizens, but in reality he has done the opossite by letting terrorist out of jail, supplying weapons and totally ignoring israeli citizens. He had no trouble spending millions on his own bomb shelter. This man is a disgrace! Elections Now! and lets get a PM that believes that attack is the best defense when it comes to our arab neighbors.

Had you taken a preemptive attack you wouldn't be posting this piece here.Of course this drill is symbolic of further failuers to come.