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Illustration photo (123rf)
Illustration photo (123rf)

What do the following have in common: Mega-floods in Britain over the weekend; snow storm in Israel at the beginning of winter; and the rocket threat hanging over the Israeli civilian home front? In the first two cases Israel and Britain were not prepared. In the third case, that’s exactly what will happen in Israel when the rockets start striking population centers.

The writing is on the wall, but in Israel no one notices. After the fierce storm that cut Jerusalem off from central Israel, leaving tens of thousands without power, it looked like something was about to change. So here it is: Nothing has changed. The same impotent government offices are ostensibly in charge of something they have no idea how to deal with. They walk the walk and talk the talk, but nothing is actually happening.

What is actually preventing the prime minister from calling all first responders, giving them three hours to come to an arrangement between them and decide who’s in charge during emergencies? Nothing, but it’s not happening, either.

I’ve talked about this before but here’s another good opportunity – Israel is not prepared for emergencies. A country where not only the weather can be surprising, but also the actions of our neighbors, is not even slightly prepared for extremes. There have been some improvements here and there, but the system in general is not functioning. A random gathering of emergency response units, with no coordination between them, won’t save any lives during natural disasters or war-related incidents.

IHLS – Israel Homeland Security

Look at what they’re actually doing, though – they decided to stop distributing chemical protection kits, while even the most naive Americans or Europeans have realized by now that Assad still has most of his chemical weapons; they didn’t do anything to minimize potential damage to the power grid; they don’t prepare public shelters in case of chemical attacks; and the list goes on and on.

Once more: There are government offices, complete with officials, but it’s all just for show. Their only purpose is to reward people favored by the government with cushy jobs.

How can this still be going on despite many reminders by nature, Hamas and Hezbollah? It’s still going on because no one is leading. No one wants to talk thirty minutes and discuss things seriously, not in front of the media. When it comes to TV our elected officials will do anything to get a few additional moments of screen time. Nothing changes. Israel isn’t ready and we are eventually going to pay the price. It will be painful.