Last update - 00:00 04/01/2008
Ashkelon decides against activating rocket alarm system
By Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondent
Should Ashkelon activate its rocket warning system? That was one of the main topics of discussion at its city council meeting Thursday, hours after a Grad Katyusha rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in the north of the city, where a new neighborhood is being built.
It was the second time a Katyusha has hit northern Ashkelon, and nine shorter-range Qassam rockets have hit the southern part of the city. The defense establishment installed a warning system in Ashkelon some time ago, but it has never been activated.
Mayor Roni Mehatzri argued at Thursday's meeting that this remained the right policy because activating the system would merely increase residents' fears. "Statistically speaking, there are 80 alarms for every hit, so there should already have been at least 400 alarms in the city," he said. "Is that what we want? For our children to go in fear?"
Warning that such fear could destroy the city, Mehatzri argued that it was better to live with the risk.
Moreover, even if the system were activated, there is not enough time between the alarm's warning and a rocket hit for people to reach a public shelter. Yet ordinary buildings offer limited protection because neither Ashkelon's houses nor its schools are reinforced.
Nevertheless, the city council agreed unanimously on one point: Ashkelon must not become a second Sderot. It therefore decided against either activating the warning system or demanding that the government reinforce homes and schools.
But it did decide to form a task force to submit recommendations to the council on how best to mobilize the public to pressure the government to put an end to the rocket fire.
"We don't need reinforcement, we need to end the terror," Mehatzri concluded