NIS 6.5m. goes to upgrade of shelters in the North
Kiryat Shmona is located about five kilometers south of the Lebanese border with Israel.
By ANNA AHRONHEIM
The Defense Ministry will invest more than NIS 6.5 million in renovating public shelters in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, it announced on Sunday.The work, which will be carried out along with the Homefront Command and National Emergency Management Authority over the coming months, will include renovating the shelters, buying and installing air conditioners in them, purchasing mobile shelters, working to protect a pharmacy in the city and more.In February, the Defense Ministry and Finance Ministry agreed to budget NIS 150m. outside the total budget to fortifying the home front in the North.This will “provide a complete solution for the northern communities in the face of the security challenges” said Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman.“We will continue to insist on our determined policy in the North, but we will also invest in fortification.”The IDF believes that the next war on the northern border will not be contained to one front, but along the entire northern border with both Lebanon and Syria. The military also expects that during the next war with Hezbollah, the terrorist group will try to bring the fight to the home front by infiltrating Israeli communities to inflict significant civilian and military casualties.Kiryat Shmona is located about five kilometers south of the Lebanese border with Israel.In November, Liberman asked for an increase of NIS 4.8 billion to the IDF’s budget, citing “significant” security changes which have dramatically changed Israel’s security situation, including precision weapons in the hands of groups like Hezbollah as well as the dramatic acceleration of Iran’s military industry in Syria.