there are always Israelis who like to spit on this country ! I live in Europe too and I can say that there are the same problems with multi-failure systems too (airports, trains, roads). Ice is Ice ! And we don' t get used to this weather in Israel. SO STOP TO BASHING Israel all the time !

Where does Ynet get these reporters from? What a load of garbage. As sure as the snow comes every single year in Norway, so do the road accidents, electricity stoppages, roads closed, railways out of action. Far worse in the UK, every time there is a flood or the smallest snowfall. Not to speak of the US which seems to go from disaster to disaster. The infrastructure is prepared for normal happenings, we do our best to cope with the unusual ones.

What a stupid assessment. It's absolutely no way a regular winter day, and in places that have it as a once or twice a winter occurrence, the infrastructure is maintained to prepare for it. We haven't had a storm like this in Jerusalem for ages, to expect us to be prepared for absolutely everything everywhere is an absolutely unreal expectation and indeed even in countries where this is a normal thing, contrary to your baseless accusations, this sort of thing happens every year!€

What do you know about adverse weather and its consequences in Europe? Obviously not much,I call it demagogy what you do,how come you get public access is beyond me.Of my 21 years in NE Scotland it happened every year there also, just as the woods of Russia burn in a hot summer, Get another job...

We are certainly not the most advanced country in the world, nor are we the most backward. Things take time and over the years things are slowly improving. Lets wait for the investigation into what did not work well and then make the necessary corrections. There is always a difference between the ideal and reality. Corrections are also a function of budget and mathematical models based on past situations . Till the next time ...

I even refuse to explain why to the ignorant author! Get educated on the respective normal global weather conditions!

Sorry old chum; but it is not spitting on israel to point out the sheer incompetence of the self serving gang of professional swindlers who are at the apex of almost every single public body or institution in this country......and as for the police commissioner, his idiotic blustering is so obviously aimed at covering up his total failure to confront organised crime in this country. The sheer Hutzpah of these people is breathtaking. Every single one of them should be fired and made to actually work for a living like the rest of us suckers.

I was flying in December 2010 from Israel to London's Heathrow when they said Heathrow was shut down due to snow. I then changed to fly Easyjet to Luton, hoping to train it in to London. Guess what, from Luton, the train stopped in mid trip, on a bridge, for 5 hours, because snow was on the track & shorted the electric 3rd rail. Get real people, it happens everywhere in europe too!

I lived in Paris for 28 years. A few centimeters in the parisian area are enough to paralyze everything there. At the opposite little villages in the Alps mountains can face any storm. Some areas are prepared because it happens all the time and other even if they are more developped are not able to face it. Journalists should make some homeworks before giving their non-documented opinion.

As someone or two from Europe/USA point out there are problems every winter and they are PREPARED for this regular eventuality. Here it is rare and the latest storm was unprecedented so one cannot compare apples with oranges.

Do you know how many people die in Chicago when there is a terrible summer heat wave (add to that a good dose of air pollution), and that is something that happens regularly? Is the U.S. "among the backward countries in the Western world"? Do you know that 3 years ago there was a terrible snowstorm in N. Europe and in Belgium at least there was a shortage of salt to spread on the roads? People could not leave their homes for several days.Do you think it never snows in Belgium? Guess again. This storm in Israel was NOT "a regular winter day" in Europe (maybe in Scandinavia or Russia), so don't berate Israel for not being ready for a storm that rarely happens there.

There are regions , the Alps , pyrennees and so , who are more or less prepared for extraordinary weather conditions . Yes .... But you have only to see how long people have to wait for electricity after an extraordinary storm . And , without the roads blocked by vast quantities of snow . So don't blame our country , look also what happens abroad , but with OPEN eyes !!!

so that Israel will be well prepared next time.

An extreme warm summer in Europe is considered a regular summer in Israel. In 2003 it lead to 70.000 additional deaths in Europe, an increase of more than 10% as compared to a 'regular' summer. The author of this article is either unfair or just ignorant.

Israelis whining and complaining. What do they call them "YENTAS" I believe

it is terrible to be cooped up i a cold home, without electricity etc. etc. but i don't hear the "public opinion" cheering for those tireless workers, policemen, soldiers etc. etc. who were not getting any sleep for days in order to bail out those who got in trouble, sometimes on their own doing (taking the family in a car and driving off to see the snow)

What was at fault is that the stronger did not help the weaker .Israels usually hot .But before we beat ourselves too much remember the Heat Wave in Paris where Tens of thousands of elderly Parents and Grandparents were abandoned by the Hedonistic Children.

But if it falls on an electrial line..... Obviously there was more than that. Entire regions were without power, but in Jerusalem the problem was partly the city not having the trees trimmed enough. The question is how that could have been determined in advance. I'm sure that Sima Kadmon only knows enough physics to pick her butt off the sofa.

Dear Sima please stop bashing Israel Apparently you have no idea what Happens in the usa or Europe when There is about half a meter of snow. Read the news and see its far worse Than here power cuts for two weeks and more so stop bashing Israel we are Much better

A voice of reason after all this "everything in Israel stinks" drivel on Ynet. It's true though that some of my fellow Israelis are probably the worst drivers in the Middle East. Plus, taking on icy /snowy roads without snow tires/chains/socks is inconsiderate.

we saw last week in the U.S. on CNN and Fox. Most of the Israeli public do not know how to drive in such weather and those in charge were not willing to take any chances. As to the power outages just ask those in the U.S. that lose power for days in a bad snowstorm. Always room for improvement but bottom line is the safety of the people including those working in the midst if the storm.

Heavy snow paralyzes things in Holland as well (like trains, roads, etcetera). The only thing that is rarely problematic, is the electricity, because our power lines are almost all underground. This is much safer than all these cables on poles, cause it only takes one branch or tree to fall on it and an entire neighborhood is without power.

every drop adds to GLOBAL WARMING and the extreme weather patterns that get worse every year. Cheers to today and blame everybody else for problems.

As a U.S. citizen who has lived throughout the United States, in particular New England where Ice storms, snow storms, flooding, wind storms, REGULARLY leave people without power. A few years ago, a snow/ice storm left 200,000 without power for three days and that was in a place Very well prepared to handle these things. Israel did a great job for such a rare event. 20,000 without power for three days is routine elsewhere, believe me.

I have lived there for 30 years. Every winter in Germany, people are left for days without electricity. Kadmon doesn't know what she is talking about. No degree of preparation for a stone storm will change that, unless all lines are underground (as in Modi'in, but not in Europe!). Ridiculous!

It is not just infrastructure but factoring in the incompetence of people who do not know how to drive in snow and ice. Accidents on the roads result in gridlock of policing and emergency and towing services that are needed in other ways when the weather is severe. In the northern cities, it isn't just the services infrastructure that is maintains preparedness but the individual households themselves. The writer is uncomfortable and upset but why didn't she own equipment to manage her house without help? I suggest a solar charger for her phone, back up heat and cooking sources and safe lighting like battery lanterns. In NYC some friends went in with their neighbors to purchase a generator big enough to power their 3 houses. It is positioned between them and they are ready for the next big one. Take some personal responsibility. And if you do not know how to drive in snow, walk. The world will not end if you skip a day at work.

Sima, get a new life, get a new job, and get some worldly experience before you slam Israel's handling of this latest freak of weather.......go live in Worcester, Massachusetts during an average winter........that would be a real learning experience for you to write about real winter storms.......for now throw your writing non-skills in a dumpster.......and go shovel some snow.....the fresh air may be just what your brain needs......

Israel gets the sunshine 99% of the year ( even in winter its mostly sun ) so there is no investment in dealing with strong winds and deep snow because we just don't get it so money is invested elsewhere. We could of course invest in the facilities to deal with these once in a lifetime storms ( biggest in 50 years ) as there are limited funds it would have to come either at the expense of projects we would use everyday in the sun or we can raise taxes. Why doesn't every Israeli have a snow shovel? Simple reason is this doesn't usually happen so they are not going to spend money on equipment they will probably never use. NOBODY is to blame and we have to be realistic here and we cannot prepare for all situations because everything cost money so we invest in preparation for the scenarios most likely to happen only. The very last thing we need is a commission to find a scapegoat so the whingers can blame somebody for their problems.

As one of the people who suffered a power outage during this storm I think it is very wrong to complain about the Israel Electric Company (IEC). We had no power for about 20 hours on Friday due to broken power lines. We saw the IEC workers working non-stop in terrible conditions to get the power up and running. It finally returned at 2 am on Saturday. So I say Kudus to all these guys who are working tirelessly to return power to the country!