Is this a drill?

May 27, 2009 - 1:54 PM by Nicky

I don’t know whether to be relieved or worried by the government’s decision to hold a large-scale nationwide drill next Tuesday. Relieved, because the government is clearly preparing us all for missile attacks, which is very responsible and forward thinking; and worried, well because the government is clearly preparing us all for missile attacks.

Sound the alarm and make for a shelter

Sound the alarm and make for a shelter

With the war of words between Israel and Iran heating up, it’s hard not to feel a little jumpy even when you’re an optimistic sort.

The government’s idea is to hold a nationwide civil defense exercise, called Turning Point 3 (I presume we’ve already had Turning Point 1 and 2). During the exercise sirens will go off across the country. And this time, instead of ignoring them, the entire population will have to head for the nearest shelter or protected site.

For my kids it’s a trip to a rather dank and smelly underground shelter at the school. For my husband it’s going to be interesting since the shelters in his high-rise office block are rented out for storage. For me, well with no one around to notice, it’s probably not worth making the effort to amble down the stairs to my son’s bedroom cum shelter. Even though it’s got wireless Internet.

In a meeting at the Knesset, Dep. Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said the exercise was based on the presumption of a missile assault from three or four directions, some with unconventional weapons, synchronized with large-scale terrorist attacks up and down the country.

This, he stressed, was no fantastic scenario made up by Hollywood scriptwriters, but a highly credible development in the event of war. I can’t help but wonder what drill they have planned for us in the event of a nuclear strike.

My village started preparing for the drill last week, when the sirens suddenly went off early in the morning. No one seemed particularly concerned, however, and just went about their business as normal. Finally someone raised their head and said: “Do you think that’s a drill?”

Anyway, good to know we’re prepared. Gas masks to be handed out later this year. Ah, the good life.

Tags: , , , , , , , • Category: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Life, War 

Comments

3 Comments on Is this a drill?

  1. Nicole on Wed, May 27th 2009 5:19 PM

    2. I’m more worried by the fact that the Education ministry announced that only schools who are prepared and ready (“aruchim umuchanim”) will participate in the drill – surely those schools who aren’t ready are the ones who really need to participate?

    And my company sent an email to everyone blocking our calendars and asking people to refrain from arranging meetings from 11-12 that day so that we won’t be in a meeting when the drill happens – not really what the government was intending, I think…

  2. David-Joe on Thu, May 28th 2009 1:34 AM

    3. Of course you must be worried – the entire world ought to worry.

    The biggest American foreign policy failure has just ocurred – North Korea is now a nuclear power and has effectively announced that the Korean War Treaty has been “torn up”.

    And today with Obama and Co, the United States is one great big pussy cat with weapons.

    Iran will eventually obtain nyclear weapons and the only person that can now stop that and a situation that would cause so much trouble for Israel – such as a collpase of aliyah, a massive outflow of foreign investment and people fleeing Israel because of the Iranian threat – is PM Netanyahu.

    Now he had the guts to stand up to the POTUS recently, he must now know that regardless of everything, only Israel has the will to stop Iran.

    And anyone that believes the Iranians are not serious about destroying Israel had better take note that these people always mean what they say. Recent history is filled with evidence.

  3. Nicky on Thu, May 28th 2009 9:14 AM

    4. Nicole, I must admit this sounds ludicrous that some schools won’t be taking part because they aren’t ready. What kind of a drill is that, if only people who are prepared are taking part, and what exactly can they learn from it?

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