Israel Matzav

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

How many Israelis will flee?

In the run-up to the 1967 Six Day War, there was so much fear for Israel's existence that thousands of body bags were prepared. In the few yeshivas that had foreign students at the time, many of the students were summoned home by their parents out of fear for their lives. I am told that after the war ended and the foreign students returned, they were ostracized by their Israeli counterparts, until the Roshei Yeshiva (yeshiva heads) stepped in and said that the boys could not be accused of a lack of faith - they were obeying their parents.

With a war with Iran seemingly looming on the horizon, foreign embassies here are gearing up for the possibility that those Israelis who have dual citizenship could seek to leave - at least temporarily. There are thousands.

In the framework of the preparations for possible fallout in case of an Israeli strike on Iran, foreign diplomats stationed in Israel requested that the Foreign Ministry equip them and their family members with gas masks.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry has provided foreign embassies in Israel with a list of public bomb shelters across the country, as well as an instructional pamphlet in English produced by the IDF Home Front Command.

Diplomatic officials deployed in Israel are particularly concerned about the possibility of a missile offensive on the Jewish State that would prompt thousands of Israeli citizens with foreign passports to seek evacuation from country.

A senior European diplomat said that in such case, the European Union does not have the means to undertake a massive evacuation operation within a short period of time.

It sounds like those who want to leave need to plan far in advance. I have not heard of anyone doing so, but then most of my friends live here permanently (even if they are dual citizens) and would be less inclined to leave than those here temporarily.

Labels: Iranian nuclear threat, war preparations

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Israel ready for war with Lebanon?

The Lebanese news site Naharnet reports that according to a French official, Israel is ready to go to war with Lebanon.

As-Safir newspaper on Wednesday quoted a French official, who has returned from a tour of the region that included north of Palestine, as saying that "Israel is ready for war against Lebanon."

The official said the Israelis told him that they have completed in recent months their military and civil preparations and that the infrastructure and shelters in the north of Palestine, especially the settlements adjacent to the border with Lebanon, were now ready to confront the prospect of war at any moment.

He said the Israelis have completed a series of exercises aimed at testing the ability of staff and new army units in the Northern Corps, which has been rebuilt, on the implementation of plans prepared against Hizbullah as soon as possible.

The French source said the maneuvers, latest of which was carried out in February, was based on confronting a series of networks of advanced missiles and the intensity of firepower that could threaten Israel's security, in addition to long-range missiles and air defense systems.

When the enemy starts making up all kinds of things you're doing to prepare to confront them, that's deterrence! (Okay, maybe we have done all this stuff, but I haven't seen it, and given what Hezbullah allegedly has, it's not just the northern border that needs to be ready).

Labels: Israel Defense Forces, Lebanon, war preparations