Defense Ministry to prep mayors for war

School will teach mayors how to deal with attack; IDF believes Hamas has rockets with 30-km. range.

By YAAKOV KATZ
lebanon war trauma 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
lebanon war trauma 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
The Defense Ministry plans to open a security school for mayors and council heads, to teach them how to manage their cities and districts in the event of a war that includes a missile onslaught on Israel, defense officials said Saturday night. Defense officials also revealed to The Jerusalem Post that if the Gaza cease-fire falls apart, Hamas will be able to fire rockets 30 kilometers into Israel. This would threaten cities that have yet to come under rocket fire, such as Ashdod and Kiryat Gat. The security school will be located near Tel Aviv and will open in the coming months. All mayors and regional and local council heads will be required to attend. Other students will include senior department heads in the councils and municipalities. Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i is behind the initiative and according to defense officials, the school will provide the municipal and council officials with the training needed to ensure that their areas of jurisdiction continue to function under fire. According to a plan drawn up by the newly-formed National Emergency Administration and overseen by Vilna'i, by the end of the year every municipality and council will have drafted and approved a plan for how to run their community during wartime. In addition, the IDF Home Front Command is to start a course this week to train officers to serve as liaisons to councils and municipalities and to assist mayors and council heads during a war. "The mayor is the commander of the city and we need to make sure that he or she has all the necessary tools to keep the city running during an emergency," a senior official said on Saturday. "With Hizbullah building up in the north, Hamas in the south and [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad's hateful rhetoric, there can be no doubt as to the threat against Israel," the official said. "All of Israel is within the range of missiles and rockets that are in our enemies' hands."