Israel begins its biggest ever civil defense drill
Pastor Dale Morgan
Israel begins its biggest ever civil defense drill*
By STEVE WEIZMAN
The Associated Press
Sunday, May 31, 2009; 3:51 AM
JERUSALEM -- Israel began the biggest civil defense drill in its history
on Sunday, training soldiers, emergency crews and civilians for the
possibility of war at a time of rising tensions with Iran.
The five-day drill, code-named Turning Point III, will include simulated
rocket attacks on Israeli cities. Air-raid sirens are to sound across
the country on Tuesday and for the first time all Israeli civilians will
simultaneously be required to practice taking cover when the sirens go off.
Israel believes Iran is developing nuclear weapons and has not ruled out
a military strike. Iran says its nuclear program is only for energy
production.
Israeli leaders have played down any connection between those tensions
and this week's exercise, and officials have been at pains to allay
fears among Arab neighbors, such as Lebanon and Syria, that the exercise
could be a cover for a military strike.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Army Radio the drill "was not created
as a response to the events of recent weeks and months."
Defense officials said the Turning Point series of exercises was
designed to implement lessons learned from Israel's 2006 war with
Hezbollah, when the Lebanese militia fired nearly 4,000 Katyusha rockets
across the border at Israel.
Similar drills were conducted in 2007 and 2008, but the military said
this year's exercise would be "the largest and most comprehensive yet."
In last year's drill, sirens failed to function in parts of Tel Aviv and
Jerusalem.
Israel inaugurated a state of the art national civil defense control and
command center this year.