Dateline Jerusalem — Once in a while I am reminded that the peace I enjoy living in Israel can be fleeting. This week I heard the loud ascending and descending scream of air raid sirens for 90 seconds as Israel experienced the start of its annual national war emergency preparedness drill. The sound is quite distinctive from the continuous single siren heard on Holocaust Remembrance Day and on Remembrance Day, Israel's Memorial Day.
The drill, conducted by the Home Front Command and the Education Ministry, along with fire and police services, Magen David Adom, the national paramedic and ambulance service, and local government authorities, was aimed at preparing teachers and students in schools throughout the country to be prepared for worst case scenarios. In addition to the sirens, there were supposed to be alerts sent to mobile phones of those who subscribe to the alerts as well as alerts flashed on TVs and radios. Since I do not know Hebrew, I do not subscribe to the cell phone alert, and I guess I do not watch the right TV shows because no messages flashed across my TV screen.
Most Israelis have between 9 seconds and 2 minutes to rush to safety when a siren goes off. Where I live, allegedly I have 60 seconds, but it takes me at least that time for my slow brain to process the fact that I must move quickly. Those Israelis who are lucky enough to live in apartment buildings or homes built within the last 20 years, have a mamad, an acronym for merkhav magan dirati, or apartment-protected space, in their personal apartments. It got its name because most people live in apartments, and most own them. I rent. The mamad has heavy concrete walls and ceiling and provides protection against chemical weapons and high impact projectiles. It is easy to get to when time is of the essence.
In Quest of Shelter
For those without access to a mamad, they must find a miklat, a shelter in the basement of their apartment building. Unfortunately, many of those are filled with storage boxes and bicycles. Others find shelter in their building's stairwells. I keep my emergency supplies and government- issued gas mask by my front door so I can easily push them into the landing on my floor. Although many apartment buildings have concrete walled stairwells, my building has an open stairwell. I must hope that I have protection sitting on the floor in the vee between my front door and apartment wall and that no chemical warheads are used against us.
I was a Girl Scout. My mother was my Brownie troop leader, I was my daughter's troop leader, and my daughter is my granddaughter's troop leader. I have always lived by the Girl Scout motto “Be prepared.” I learned preparedness prior to Girl Scouts. I grew up in the 1950s 5and ‘60s when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were in a cold war. Some friends had bomb shelters built into their backyards. I remember having emergency drills in school where we would crawl under our desks and protect the back of our necks with our arms. I could never understand how those actions would protect me from an atomic or hydrogen bomb. What did I know?
Israel's war preparedness is a lot more sophisticated than that of my childhood. As Prime Minister Netanyahu says, “Israel is the most threatened state in the world.” We must be prepared for all scenarios. We have the Iron Dome, a mobile system to intercept short range rockets and artillery, David's Sling to intercept medium to long range rockets, and the Arrow missile to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles. Knowing Israel, I am sure there are a lot more, but they are secret.
I feel especially safe when I hear Israeli Air Force jets flying above me. Because Israel involves the entire country in its national security, preparedness and awareness programs to prevent terrorism, I feel safer in Israel than anywhere else in the world.
L'hitraot. Shachar
