News
Nationwide Home Front drill hits snags
Hanan Greenberg
Published: 02.06.09, 13:38
Comment Comment
Print comment Print comment
Back to article
22 Talkbacks for this article
1. The siren
Talula ,   Israel   (06.02.09)
I absolutely DREAD hearing that siren. Having been here during the first Gulf war, it's left something of a bad memory. It's a horrible desperate sound. The only thing worse than that noise is Rita trying to sing.
2. 1 Talula
gabriela ben ari   (06.02.09)
I totally relate to your first paragraph
3. Uhhh ... INFO please
raver ,   israel   (06.02.09)
There has been very little info - almost nothing - in the English Israeli press. What am I supposed to do after entering the shelter? How long should I stay there? Someone said that if you cannot hear the siren, you should call Home Front Command - what's there number? I think HFC have done a poor job in communicating with the English speaking public ...
4. 3 you're in israel - learn to speak hebrew
israel   (06.02.09)
english is not the language here - Hebrew is.
5. #4 is mean..... My works bomb shelters are bing used as
(06.02.09)
a storage for old computers. My management has no intention of cleaning them out. What should I do?
6. grow up
jay ,   jerusalem   (06.02.09)
as for the shelters I think we should do what the arabs do go stand on the roof and watch the rockets as if it were firecrackers lol i mean if its your time its your time.
7. To #3: Don't worry. In the Knesset it was business as usual!
David ,   Karmiel, Israel   (06.02.09)
What a great example to the people of the State of Israel when we see live on TV the Knesset Committee under the, Chairmanship if Israel Hasson, not even blink an eye but just carry on wit the order of the day. This is a perfect example of Israeli apathy and it is exacerbated by the fact the MK Hasson (Kadimah) is a former Deputy Head of the Shin Beth!
8. Let's be honest
Israel Israeli ,   Tel Aviv   (06.02.09)
In all the excitement, people are forgetting why this exercise is happening. A massive rocket attack from Lebanon is only possible because Hezbolla gained power thanks to Ehud Barak's destruction of the SLA. A massive rocket attack from Gaza is only possible because of the Oslo agreement and Kadima's ethnic cleansing of Gush Katif. To make matters worse, a double attack will be worse due to an uprising of Israel Arabs raised on Yuli Tamir's Nakba education. As the exercise showed, Israel probably will not survive such an attack and will certainly have to absorb massive civilian casualties and economic damage. Imagine what would happen under the Kadima/Obama/Saudi plan where Israel has less territory and absorbs three times as many rockets.
9. Siren sounded but too weak to hear inside in Herzliya
Yael ,   Tel Aviv   (06.02.09)
At the Interdisciplinary Center we were ready and waiting for the siren to sound but found that it could not be heard inside the building. News came that it was going off only because someone who had been outside and heard it (weakly) came in and informed us. Others came to the safe room only because they knew at 11 it was supposed to go off. In a real war situation, we won't know the time of an attack.
10. TO NUMBER 6
keevs4u ,   jerusalem   (06.02.09)
haha good idea... dfntly a fun approach... fireworks are fun AND nice :) win win... we get a show and we have fun b4 we die
11. probably the dang trouble signals getting stuck...
Ypip ,   Canada   (06.02.09)
12. 3
yudkele ,   bs   (06.02.09)
a narrow, narrow mind
13. Need another drill in 3 months
JPS ,   Efrat   (06.02.09)
Then we can see if all the bloopers from today's exercise were fixed.
14. 4 you are right but...
JJ ,   Israel   (06.02.09)
If you r a russian in Israel you certainly have all the info at your disposal written in russian. How that can be for some and others not??? These are the discrepancies that I don't understand in Isarel after all we are a multicultural country.
15. To # 4 SPEAKING HEBREW
Reuven ,   Petach Tikvah   (06.02.09)
What a stupid comment. Many hard working, observant and loyal citizens to the State of Israel came here at a relatively advanced age from English speaking countries when learning proper Hebrew language skills was almost impossible, despite trying to master a new language. It does not mean that the part of the population that has English as a mother toungue has no Hebrew, but that their spoken and written Hebrew might lack the depth that allows them to understand the finer points of non everyday, technical Ivrit. Learning and speaking Hebrew is a very important requirement, but more important is to encourage Jews from all over the world to come and live here. I might add that these Jews who never learn to speak Hebrew properly see their children and grandchildren using Hebrew as their main language and this is far more important and valuable. As a Hebrew and English speaker I have to tell you that # 3 is 100% correct. Your comments are ridiculous
16. #4 Israel
Marcel ,   Florida   (06.02.09)
Didn't you hear ? The 51 st state of the U.S. has new laws put into effect for them. The Banana Republic of Israelas it is now known is being reduced in size to appease the Islamic world and the little Jewish ghetto which will remain in the fenced in area of what was Ben Gurion Airport will be english speaking as per orders of your master and demi-god B Hussein Obama.
17. #4... Do you really hate English Speaking people?
Arnold   (06.02.09)
Some of the worst Anti Semitism I have ever scene, is right here in Israel by Israelis. A considerable number who consider themselves to be Israelis and not Jews. Here is the irony. A country like multicultural Australia where all official information is available in an abundance of languages. Where so many Israelis desire to go and live but do not wish the adopt same high standards for themselves in their own country. .
18. Mmm the Lebanese elections are coming
S.   (06.02.09)
June 7th. Is this a warming up for in case Hezbollah gets more power in Lebanon and might start poking Israel in the face again?
19. All in all
Sarah ,   New York City, USA   (06.02.09)
I believe the drill went rather well. The problems and malfunctions have been isolated and will be fixed. Good job, Israel.
20. The point of such a drill is to find those malfunctions
Raymond in DC ,   Washington, USA   (06.02.09)
Sarah in NYC is right. Yes, there were malfunctions reported. But the point of such an exercise is to find and identify those parts of the system that don't work as expected - the non-working sirens, the locked shelters, the confusions in procedures.
21. Those responsible for the sirens should
jason white ,   afula,israel   (06.02.09)
punished. Those responsible for unlocking all the shelters and checking they are clean should be fired. It costs us a lot of money to pay people to clean our shelters. We all chip in in my building. The town does nothing for our neighborhood. Perhaps if the soldiers of the Home Front Command were to get out in the field instead of b.s.ing and drinking coffee at our local community center,it might help.
22. if mistakes are learned & fixed then nothing to worry about
zionist forever   (06.02.09)
The whole point of these drills is to make sure that the system runs as it should in wartime. If mistakes are found now its better than waiting for the war to come and only then discovering bomb shelters are not opened and people don't hear the siren. What the IDF should be doing is returning gas masks. If Iran decided to attack Israel before they got their nukes or if they retaliated to air strikes carried out by Israel or anybody else there is a possibility they would use chemical weapons. Hearing a drill and trying to run to shelters doesn't help if Iran uses gas and people have no gas masks.
Back to article