Last update - 00:00 27/05/2007
Knesset panel: 'Protected areas' fail to safeguard Sderot residents
By Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondent
Knesset State Control Committee Chairman MK Zevulun Orlev (National Religious Party-National Union) on Sunday said the series of shelters and reinforced buildings in Sderot known as "protected areas" failed to properly safeguard residents from Qassam rocket fire.
During a special Knesset State Control Committee session that convened in Sderot, the panel cited the authorities' decision not to allow local schools where such compounds existed to reopen as evidence that the current system was unsatisfactory.
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, who attended the special hearing, started it off by reading his 2006 report that criticized the state's failure to reinforce buildings in Sderot and failure to develop a defense system that would be able to intercept rockets.
"A comptroller's report left unimplemented hurts democracy," Lindenstrauss said.
Orlev added that the process of reinforcing buildings in Sderot in order to protect them from Qassam fire is expected to take an extensive period of time.
During the debate, an argument broke out between Isral Defense Forces and Ministry of Defense representatives. Army officials said reinforcements were carried out as permitted by the budget allocated to them while ministry officials said they had diverted funds according to IDF Home Front Command recommendations.