The biggest homefront drill ever conducted in Israel started this morning (Sunday, April 6) with the opening of the Governmental War Room Headquarters.  Different areas of the country’s homefront, including local authorities, Homefront Command, governmental offices, and search and rescue teams will take part in the emergency drill, which will last five days.  The goal of the drill is to improve the level of readiness of the different organizations for dealing with emergency situations such as missile attacks in different areas of the country.

The highlight of the drill will be on Tuesday morning, when a one-and-a-half minute alarm will be heard throughout of Israel, except in Sderot and Israeli towns in proximity to the Gaza Strip.  The alarm will signal the start of a wide scale emergency drill in all educational institutions.  Students will be directed to nearby shelters, and an hour will be devoted to instruction of proper procedure during emergency situations.  A commander of the Homefront Command will evaluate the handling of the emergency situation by the local authorities.

The National Emergency Authority, which was established last September after conclusive findings of the Second Lebanon War, will be in charge of directing the drill and to control homefront security forces. This is the first drill headed by the Authority, and will help define the boundaries of responsibilities and the interface between the different elements and commanders responsible for the homefront security.

The Homefront Command will also broadcast a program on Tuesday on channel 33, in which the spokesperson for the GOC of the Command will give an address.  Afterwards, the Command will broadcast a self-defense program on the channel as part of an effort to educate the public on proper procedures during emergency situations. “Pre-planning is a necessity to learn how to confront an emergency situation,” explained the head of the Population Department, Colonel Hilik Sofer. “Therefore, every civilian and family must choose a nearby shelter they can run to in case of an emergency and have the family emergency kit prepared.”