The National Security Council has recommended establishment of a "national emergency authority" that will apparently operate as part of the Public Security Ministry and will serve as the umbrella organization for all emergency services in Israel.

If the plan is approved, the minister will receive significant powers at times of emergency to operate units such as the Home Front Command, the fire fighters and the "Melah" emergency crews. Magen David Adom and the local government services, however, would remain in their current form but will be synchronized, during crises, with the new authority.

Officials involved in the plan believe it has a good chance of being implemented. "The fighting in the North [last summer] proved that there is need for a guiding hand for the emergency services in Israel, and the cabinet ministers understand that they need to do something to improve the handling of the population that is under threat during fighting," they said. "Implementing the plan will require a great deal of thorough work, but the chances of this happening are high."

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The decision to put responsibility for emergency services in the hands of the Public Security Ministry stems, among other things, from the realization in the Israel Defense Forces and the police that the heads of the security forces, who today have responsibility for the civilian population during wartime, are not free to deal with it fulltime while they are involved in fighting.

The key to success is the Home Front Command (HFC), which has major advantages that it would be hard-pressed to reconstruct if it is cut off from the IDF. These include significant logistical capabilities; the fact that it participates in IDF emergency simulations; its access to military intelligence, which allows it to take preparatory action before the population comes under attack; and the low cost of army manpower. In addition, the cost of maintaining the current system in the IDF is low.

The plan envisages two possible models for the HFC. The first, which is considered more likely to be adopted, has it remaining a military body that will be subordinated to, and operated by, the minister for internal security only at times of emergency. At that time, the regional commanders of the command would come under the authority of the regional commanders of the police, with the head of the Home Front becoming subordinate to the police commissioner.

The second model envisages the HFC being transferred in its entirety to the Internal Security Ministry. Before this could happen, it would be necessary to change the Basic Law on the IDF. But various sources say that the police would not be able to supply the necessary logistical solutions for this option, which could in turn harm the command.

A third option is also being examined. It talks of abolishing the HFC altogether, and setting up a civilian organization in its place. The likelihood of this option being adopted is considered low.

The overall plan was presented by the National Security Council last month to the internal security minister, Avi Dichter, who announced that he would work toward its implementation. The plan calls for transfer of a great deal of authority from various government offices to the new authority. Evacuation and welfare services that are currently in the hands of the Interior Ministry, for example, would be transferred, as would be responsibility for the Melah crews, currently under the Defense Ministry, which provide products and vital emergency services. The country's firefighting services would also undergo radical reform and be reorganized on a regional basis, while a national school would be established to teach all branches of civil defense.