OC Home front stresses importance of local authorities working together in time of war with MDA, police, and fire department.
By DINA FEUCHTWANGERbomb shelter 88(photo credit: )
Marking the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, OC Home Front Command Maj.-Gen. Yitzhak Gershon spoke in Tel Aviv on Thursday to local authority heads about the readiness of the home front in the case of an emergency following the Second Lebanon War.
However, he would not answer the question whether or not the home front was, in fact, ready, speaking instead about lessons learned from the war.
Gershon stressed the importance of local authorities working together in a time of war with Magen David Adom, the police, and the fire department. "Only [this cooperation] will guarantee better [coping,]" he said.
Gershon clearly explained that the Home Front Command had no information about a possible war this summer.
Union of Local Authorities head Shmuel Ripman spoke of the need to be ready at all times. "We know that there will be an event, we just don't know when, and we need to be ready for it," he said.
Avraham Elyatzur, head of security at Kibbutz Merhavya in the Negev, spoke to The Jerusalem Post about the shape the home front was in.
"In my opinion, there aren't enough shelters and to build enough shelters would cost millions," he said. "A lady with seven children asked me where she should go if a rocket falls. I told her to stay in her house. It's impossible to gather seven children and get to the nearest shelter... in under two minutes."
However, Elyatzur added that he did not believe the situation on the home front was as bad as it was being portrayed in the media.