Citizens of Israel will receive a text message notifying them of an alarm in their area as part of a new Home Front Command drill to take place throughout the country in a number of weeks.
In honor of the annual drill, Turning Point 5, the command will try out a new technology unlike that used to send a regular SMS. In order to send the text, the system overrides cellular networks and delivers a message with a different sound.
One of the drill's aims is to test the system's efficiency in addition to the regular alarms and other local emergency services. It is to be implemented within a year or two.
Turning Point 5 is scheduled to take place on June 19, and will include simulations in which hundreds of rockets and missiles are fired at Israel. Ministers and authorities will participate and hold hearings on the different dilemmas that arise.
Two alarms will be sounded, in the morning and evening, in order for civilians to practice entering fortified rooms at home. Some public bomb shelters will also be utilized in order to drill mass evacuations.
GOC Home Front Command Yair Golan explained that the drill is a message to the public, which must understand the reality and adapt to it.
"We are not looking to frighten anyone. Civilians who understand can better deal with emergencies. Civilians don't scare easily – they know the difference between daily life and emergencies, and we must be prepared for all possibilities," he said.