Veteran northern Israeli residents are more or less accustomed to spending a period of time inside bomb shelters every few years as the history of the modern Israeli state has compelled them to do. That said, with the brewing threat from Syria things are different this time around for the talk is of the possible use of chemical weapons chas v’sholom. Leaders of northern communities report they await instructions from security officials, but in actuality, some of the communities have already begun to prepare public bomb shelters, not wishing to be caught off guard.

According to a Maariv report, most northern residents understand the periodic need to enter bomb shelters but talk of chemical weapons falling into Hizbullah hands presents a new and unprecedented threat. Residents are aware of the two Iron Dome anti-missile batteries deployed in the north today, one in Haifa and a second in the Upper Galil, but this does not allay their chemical weapons fears.

Kiryat Shmona Mayor Nissim Malka explains he reads the newspapers like all Israelis and he remains confident that if and when the time comes area mayors and council heads will be summoned by authorities for a briefing. Nevertheless, he admits he is not waiting around and in his northern border city efforts to prepare public shelters are already underway.

The city has signed with a contractor who has committed to working at a brisk pace to refurbish some of the city’s shelters. City inspectors are also visiting shelters in apartment buildings to determine their condition and accessibility in case of emergency.

The mayor explains a new law which followed the Second Lebanon War empowers city inspectors to compel residents of an apartment building to act to clean and/or repair a shelter so that it meets inspection.

Mayor Malka admits that too many people fear the chemical weaponry, aware of the fact that of the hundreds of shelters in the city, only two are designed to withstand a chemical attack. He adds the city’s main frontal command treatment center for victims is not equipped against a chemical attack.

It appears Mayor Malka is not alone and other communities in the Galil and Golan Heights have begun inspecting shelters bases on ominous media reports over the past days. Golan Heights officials report they actually began some time ago after realizing the magnitude of Syria’s civil war, adding area shelters are checked every two weeks to ensure they are ready at a moment’s notice.

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(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)