Israel stages biggest-ever war drill

Daredevil

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Is a war in the offing???

Israel stages biggest-ever war drill

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Israel stages five-day emergency drill to prepare nation for possibility of war
Drill will include simulated rockets, air raids, use of weapons on civilians
Everyone expected to go to shelters at sound of sirens, defense ministry says
Drill comes amid rising tensions with Iran over Tehran's nuclear ambitions

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel started its biggest emergency drill in the nation's history Sunday to prepare civilians, soldiers and rescue crews for the possibility of war, the defense force said in a statement.

The five-day drill, nicknamed Turning Point 3, comes amid the nation's rising tensions with Iran.

It will be conducted in public facilities, including schools, military bases and government offices. Students, soldiers and other civilians will practice how to gather at protected places during an emergency.

Officials said the drill will include simulated rockets, air raids and other attacks on infrastructure and essential facilities, and use of weapons on civilians.

Everyone is expected to go to a protected place at the sound of sirens, the defense force said, adding that more instructions will be broadcast on a public channel.

"It is of great importance that every civilian, institute and workplace will seriously practice in order to improve our preparedness and national resilience," Maj. Gen. Yair Golan of the Home Front Command said in a news statement.

The move comes amid tension between Israel and Tehran.

The Israeli government considers Iran's nuclear program as the dominant threat facing the country. Israel is publicly supportive of President Barack Obama administration's outreach to the Islamic state.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israeli Army Radio last week that he believes "that the chance the dialogue has of stopping Iran's nuclear efforts is very low."

Barak's views are keeping with the majority of his countrymen.

An Israeli poll released this month found that 74 percent believe that the U.S. policy of engagement with Iran will fail and 81 percent think Iran will develop a nuclear weapon capability.

Israel has conducted emergency drills the past two years, but officials said this is the biggest so far.

Israel stages biggest-ever war drill - CNN.com
 

Daredevil

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Israel begins its biggest civil defense drill

Israel begins its biggest civil defense drill

By STEVE WEIZMAN – 1 hour ago

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel began the biggest civil defense drill in its history on Sunday, putting soldiers, emergency crews and civilians through rehearsals 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 and missile attacks on Israeli cities, including preparations for a nonconventional strike. Air-raid sirens are to sound across the country on Tuesday and for the first time, all Israeli civilians will be required to practice taking cover in shelters when the sirens go off.

It's the third consecutive year that Israel is holding the exercise, a direct result of its inconclusive 2006 war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. During the conflict, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel, and civil defense authorities, bomb shelters and air raid alarms were found to be unprepared.

Iran's development of long-range missiles, along with international concerns that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, have added to Israeli jitters. While the international community has been seeking a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, Israel has not ruled out military action.

Israeli leaders 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 it could be a cover for a military strike.

Speaking at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the drill as "routine" and said it was not connected to any specific event or to any intelligence warning.
"We are required to defend Israel, its cities, various installations, from the possibility of attacks by missiles, rockets or other weapons," he said. "I think the fact that Israel is preparing more from exercise to exercise and is capable of better protecting its citizens decreases the chance that we'll have to use these tools."

During the exercise, police, fire and ambulance services, hospitals, military rescue units and local authorities will practice dealing with various attack scenarios, including by missiles carrying non-conventional warheads, the national emergency service said in a statement.

It said the exercise would also include emergency sessions of the Cabinet to debate simulated events.

Defense officials said the exercises were designed to implement lessons learned from Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah. It also incorporates experience gleaned from barrages of rockets fired into southern Israel by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said.

"We are holding exercises to meet the threats as we have experienced them in the past few years and as we may face them in the future," Vilnai told the radio. "It's the third time we've carried out this drill and I imagine that next year at this time there will be Turning Point IV."

Similar rehearsals were conducted in 2007 and 2008, but the military said this year's exercise would be "the largest and most comprehensive yet." Last year, sirens failed to function in parts of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
A state-of-the-art national civil defense control and command center will be inaugurated in this year's exercises.

Vilnai would not comment on whether the drill was meant to send a specific message to Iran but said every display or preparedness carried an element of deterrence.

"Our enemies long ago showed they believe that the home front is our Achilles heel," he said. "We are drilling there to prove that it is not."

The Associated Press: Israel begins its biggest civil defense drill
 
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I am glad Israel is taking steps to ensure their security,as Obama may prove to be a paper tiger when it comes to supporting Israel in any future conflicts.
 

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