The nerve center of the IDF Homefront Command found itself handling 8,000 calls hourly during Operation Protective Edge. As sirens continued sounding in southern and central Israel, the command�s information center was operating round-the-clock, seeking to provide a response to a growing number of concerned citizens.

Reserve duty officer Itzik Tessler was responsible for calls coming from the chareidi sector. A big part of their role was to inform members of the chareidi community how to act in line with Homefront Command instructions during a rocket attack. They dealt with many chareidi residents of Ashdod.

One hundred operators manned the phones in the nerve center, offering responses in six different languages including Yiddish.

(YWN � Israel Desk, Jerusalem)