State panel: Take Home Front Command out of IDF hands

Responsibility for the home front should be transferred from the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command to the Public Security Ministry, a governmental committee on preparing the home front has recommended.

In all wars to date, the committee's report explained, the "civilian front" has been viewed as less important than the military one. Yet every war since the 1991 Gulf War has involved deliberate attacks on the home front by the enemy, a situation that requires the "civilian front" to be allocated equal importance to the military one. That, however, is unlikely to happen as long as the home front remains the IDF's responsibility, forcing it to compete with the military front for the army's resources.

The Public Security Ministry, in contrast, is accustomed to dealing with civilian problems. Moreover, the police, for which this ministry is responsible, is the force entrusted with protecting civilian life in peacetime, so it makes sense for it to continue doing this job in wartime, the report argued.

The panel, which was set up a year ago and chaired by former minister Maj Gen. (res.) Ami Ayalon, also recommended creating a permanent committee in the Prime Minister's Office to coordinate different ministries' efforts to assist the home front.

Meanwhile, speaking at a conference at Tel Aviv University Sunday, GOC Home Front Command Yair Golan said the state will need to invest tens of millions of shekels to upgrade the siren systems that warn of rocket attacks in preparation for future wars.

During the recent Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, he said, the systems did not function properly outside a range of 30 kilometers from the Gaza border, yet cities outside this range, such as Be'er Sheva, did suffer rocket attacks. Moreover, he said, the army's assumption before the operation had been that one siren per 1,000 square meters was sufficient, but now, it believes one siren is needed for every 500 to 750 square meters.

Golan also said that periodic random tests of the system are necessary. Though the sirens are sounded every year on both Holocaust Remembrance Day and Memorial Day, this is not a proper test, he explained, because on those days, people are expecting to hear them go off at a particular hour.