With different government agencies involved in levels of preparation of a possible assault from Iran, the Ministry of Education has been working with the IDF Homefront Command, announcing shelters in the nation’s public schools will play a role in providing protection in such an event chas v’sholom.

In the beginning of February the ministry distributed new regulations to schools around the country geared to accommodating people seeking refuge in the event of a major attack. The directive does mention that in the event of a state of an emergency, the schools are not large enough to accommodate all the people who will be seeking refuge.

The guidelines place responsibility in the hands of a school’s administrators, to open the doors to the neighbors and to handle the influx of citizens.

Another program being investigated by the IDF Homefront Command is sending an SMS test message to residents of an area under missile attack. In addition to sounding sirens in that area, they would receive a text message on a mobile phone instructing them to head for the nearest shelter. Other notification will also be made, most likely via television and emails.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)