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Last update - 14:40 08/04/2008
Israelis: We didn't hear sirens during landmark civil defense drill
By Yuval Azoulay, Barak Ravid and Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
Tags: IDF, Israel, Gaza, Home Front

Tel Aviv and Jerusalem residents complained Tuesday that they were unable to hear the sirens that wailed across the country at 10 A.M. as part of Israel's largest ever civilian defense drill.

Schoolchildren and government workers ran for air raid shelters when the sirens sounded as part of the nationwide exercise. Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said that the authorities would learn from the weaknesses revealed by the drill.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak assembled the new National Emergency Authority on Monday as part of the Home Front preparedness exercise being conducted this week throughout the country.
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As part of the drill, known as Turning Point 2 (Nekudat Mifne 2), the siren sounded for a minute and a half. There was no alarm sounded for the drill in Sderot and the rest of the communities bordering Gaza.

Before the warning sirens sound, the Home Front Command inaugurated its new broadcast studio in the command's Ramle headquarters with a live TV broadcast on Channel 33 on proper emergency procedures.

As the sirens sounded, school and nursery school children were taken to the closest shelters, to spend an hour learning about emergency procedures. Government employees will also be expected to man their posts in shelters and protected rooms.

All local authorities were to undertake drills, based on different scenarios provided by the Home Front Command. In the afternoon there will be emergency exercises in Nazareth and the Northern Galilee, to practice rescuing survivors from buildings hit by missiles.

The National Emergency Authority, which was established last September in the wake of findings on the functioning of the home front during Second Lebanon War, will be in charge of directing the drill and controlling home-front security forces. This is the first drill headed by the Authority, and will help to define the boundaries of its responsibilities and the interface between the different elements and commanders responsible for the home-front security.

Barak spoke at the meeting Monday morning, saying the decision to hold the five-day exercise did not mean that war is anticipated in the near future.

Rather, he said the drill should be seen as part of the country's response to lessons learned from the Second Lebanon War. "The State of Israel has no interest in escalating the situation in the region." He said the goal of the exercise is to learn and raise the level of preparedness. He said the local authorities have a critical role in the public's ability to withstand an attack on the home front.

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      1.   siren 10:13  |  penkower 08/04/08
      2.   A crying indictment of Israel 10:22  |  Clickfool 08/04/08
      3.   Hollywood style brainwashing 10:28  |  Joe 08/04/08
      4.   To #2 - ClickFOOL 10:55  |  Yossi 08/04/08
      5.   I *WISH* it was just brainwashing. 11:00  |  Nicole 08/04/08
      6.   Haaretz gets it wrong again, as ever 11:10  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 08/04/08
      7.   The point Yossi... 11:10  |  Woody 08/04/08
      8.   It seems that Barak anticipates a missile barrage 11:22  |  Natallie Durson 08/04/08
      9.   #2 Its Jewish land that is occupied 11:27  |  Levi 08/04/08
      10.   They are nervous, itch, agitated, some even sad and crying 11:31  |  Johnny 08/04/08
      11.   to #6 10AM siren not 11 11:40  |  Hari 08/04/08
      12.   Woody you don`t live in Israel 11:40  |  Johnny 08/04/08
      13.   to #6 11:47  |  Mount Zion 08/04/08
      14.   A war is coming....and 11:49  |  Nattalie Durson 08/04/08
      15.   Siren 11:55  |  Millicent 08/04/08
      16.   For Levi # 9 11:57  |  Clickfool 08/04/08
      17.   To #7 - Get real Woodmeister 12:13  |  Yossi 08/04/08
      18.   So has the state stimulated 10,000 12:19  |  Chris Linthwaite 08/04/08
      19.   # 7 WOW thank u. I`m not used to fair & logical comments 12:24  |  Suad 08/04/08
      20.   Chris Linthwaite don`t you have a job? 12:29  |  Johnny 08/04/08
      21.   # 18 is this really so ? If yes , then it beats everything 12:30  |  Suad 08/04/08
      22.   For the writer of message # 14 12:40  |  Clickfool 08/04/08
      23.   Different kind of war #18 12:55  |  Nicole 08/04/08
      24.   I heard nothing in Rehovot 13:00  |  David Teich 08/04/08
      25.   7: Wow, Woody, the delusions continue in the Bubble 13:06  |  David Teich 08/04/08
      26.   I hope this alarms the center of the country 13:08  |  Dror 08/04/08
      27.   Poor Siren 13:28  |  Concerned 08/04/08
      28.   Putting on a show for the evangelists? 13:30  |  Dror 08/04/08
      29.   Jack Khoury should ... 13:31  |  Indiginous 08/04/08
      30.   Clickfool: A constant indictment of Israel 13:33  |  Avi 08/04/08
      31.   wow siren 13:37  |  Moe 08/04/08
      32.   Why no sirens in Sderot or near Gaza? 13:39  |  petra 08/04/08
      33.   Why no sirens in Sderot or near Gaza? 13:39  |  petra 08/04/08
      34.   It`s called mortality awareness, #26 13:45  |  Nicole 08/04/08
      35.   To petra - to avoid confusion 13:51  |  JustMe 08/04/08
      36.   Israeli` we didn`t hear sirens 13:54  |  Marlene 08/04/08
      37.   Nicole #34 14:06  |  Dror 08/04/08
      38.   Nicole #34 14:06  |  Dror 08/04/08
      39.   Weak sirens in Kfar-Saba 14:26  |  Yonatan 08/04/08
      40.   And all our enemies got scared 14:28  |  Yonatan 08/04/08
      41.   #20 Johnny 14:30  |  Chris Linthwaite 08/04/08
      42.   # 35 JUST ME THEY ABOVE ALL NEED THE SIRENS 14:46  |  petra 08/04/08
      43.   Margie you still didn`t set your clock back, lol~ 15:56  |  thinker 08/04/08
      44.   There is always a time when we get presented with price 15:59  |  Kris Lazar 08/04/08
      45.   No sirens heart in Ramat Gan 16:06  |  Confused Citizen 08/04/08
      46.   To Chris Linthwaite & Clickfool 16:50  |  Oleg 08/04/08
      47.   Some Israelis didn`t hear sirens 17:50  |  JordanisPalestine 08/04/08
      48.   #46 Oleg 17:51  |  Chris Linthwaite 08/04/08
      49.   Sirens 17:56  |  Dr. David Feigenbaum 08/04/08
      50.   #45 - Confused Citizen 18:19  |  JordanisPalestine 08/04/08
      51.   #46 Oleg 18:22  |  JordanisPalestine 08/04/08
      52.   My foot 11 am - Ha`aretz was right 18:30  |  sh 08/04/08
      53.   42: Petra, are you really that slow? 19:12  |  David Teich 08/04/08
      54.   52: problems with definitions, sh? 19:15  |  David Teich 08/04/08
      55.   Answer to all complaints about the Sirens 20:40  |  Ephraim 08/04/08
      56.   Ephraim also missing the point 09:24  |  David Teich 09/04/08
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