While MK Rabbi Uri Maklev is not minimizing the impact of the winter storm that brought Yerushalayim, Tzfas and other areas to total shutdown. He uses the current situation to warn that if government and emergency services are incapable of dealing with snow, how will they fair facing a true emergency. Maklev made his remarks in a Knesset plenum session on Monday 13 Teves 5774.
Maklev explained “We see how the Government of Israel and Israel Police acted and the dismal failures during these emergency days requiring simple actions involving all emergency services. It was simple and basic, for all emergency services to address the basic emergency needs related to the storm and even this was not carried out appropriately.”
“Hundreds of thousands of Israelis were in lockdown for days and they did not even receive the minimum services they are entitled to. There were many elderly, women, children, infants and infirmed included among them. Their electric service was not restored for days and they were not provided with other basic essential needs.”
Maklev continued, pointing out that people were trapped in vehicles in Yerushalayim for eight hours and outside the city some sat for 12 hours. “They had no idea if they would ever be released and see their homes again. More than this, there was not a single agency that undertook to centralize the responsibility for these vehicular extrications. The situation resulted in many emergency responders which included many volunteers being unable to reach those in need of assistance because roads were blocked. Motorists were stuck in their vehicle and it was literally pikuach nefesh.”
Maklev stressed there was no surprise as the major storm was predicted and forecasted spoke of an “extreme winter snowstorm yet no one was prepared.”
“Therefore one must ask oneself how will government and emergency agencies deal with a true emergency since in this case the storm was predicated and the response was a colossal failure.”
Maklev is calling for the establishment of a board of inquiry made up of professionals capable of truly evaluating the response and performance of the relevant agencies towards taking the required action to avoid a repeat in the future.
He concluded by addressing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. “Perhaps the prime minister was indoors at home with scented candles that provided satisfaction but it is essential to clarify that hundreds of thousands of civilians were holed up in their homes in the bitter cold using candles to dispel a bit of the darkness.”
Some of the experts who over recent years have voiced concerns over a major earthquake and the nation’s ill state of preparedness joined in with Maklev. One expert interviewed by Channel 2 News pointed out that in this storm, government and emergency agencies were only faced with the collapse of one component of basic life, electricity. He warns that in the event of an earthquake, there will be the electric failure coupled with a far more frightening scenario, which will likely include interruptions in water and phone service, people trapped under buildings and impassable roadways. There will be thousands of fatalities and many more injuries. He cited that we recently had eight earthquakes in the span of a month, of which four were felt in the Tiveria area. Officials warn the experts are in agreement and those minor quakes signal a major earthquake is heading our way in the very near future chas v’sholom.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
3 Responses
”
Maklev continued, pointing out that people were trapped in vehicles in Yerushalayim for eight hours and outside the city some sat for 12 hours.
(…)
Maklev stressed there was no surprise as the major storm was predicted and forecasted
”
Yet these people who had been warned multiple times on the radio not to drive still went out, because their cars had super powers.
All the irresponsible people who went driving in this weather complicated all EMS efforts (I was flabbergasted when we were stuck in a traffic jam with the ambulance while the storm was going, why were all these people on the road, what could possibly be so important?) for no good reason and added unnecessary calls to an already overtaxed system.
6 days after the storm began, and there are still many homes in Jerusalem and surrounding areas without electricity. This includes many elderly people, as well as babies. There are still no bus lines running in areas such as Bayit Vegan, where people are trapped at home without a means to leave and find warmth. (Some areas of the neighborhood have electricity. Others have been told that they are not yet even on the list for power restoration and should not expect it until next Sunday at the soonest!!)
The biggest problem has been no central resource which is giving over correct information regarding transportation, schools etc.
Many are calling this storm “Barkats revenge” – as the Chareidi neighborhoods seem to be the last ones on the priority lists.
#2- “Barkats revenge”??? The restoration and supply of electricity is the responsibility of the Israel Electric Corporation (חברת החשמל). And here in the US we’ve seen (and experienced) much worse disruptions.