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Friday, June 18, 2010     INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING

Israelis assign higher priority to civil defense

TEL AVIV — Israel's military has acted to expand its role in civil defense following an exercise that simulated a regional war.

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Turning Point-4, held in May 2010, tested the responses of the government, military and security forces during a missile war with Iran, Hamas, Hizbullah and Syria.

Officials said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi has approved recommendations that the military increase efforts in civil defense preparations for any future regional war. They said the military has assessed that effective civil defense could determine whether Israel would retaliate against any massive missile and rocket strike by such adversaries as Hamas, Hizbullah and Syria.

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"The bottom line is that if there is no civil defense, nobody will have the energy or will for a sustained Israeli offensive," an official said.

The military has launched a study of the feasibility of contributing thousands of soldiers to civil defense in any future war. The study would determine whether soldiers from non-combat units could be trained in civil defense and assigned to help protect and maintain schools, hospitals and social services during wartime.

"This project is utilizing to the fullest military personnel in an emergency," a senior officer in the military's Operations Directorate said. "We want to assist the home front in the treatment of civilians, and one way to do so is through these soldiers who are not needed in their units during emergencies and can help in other missions."

Officials said the study would determine which soldiers could perform civilian duties during wartime. They said this could mean that secretaries at military headquarters in Tel Aviv serve as teachers, replacing those mobilized for combat.

Other tasks assigned to non-combat soldiers could include staffing hospitals, nursing homes and senior citizen centers. Officials said soldiers would also be trained in how to provide first aid to those wounded in a chemical weapons attack.

Turning Point-4 included a scenario in which Israel was struck by missiles tipped with chemical warheads. Organizers envisioned that scores of people would die in such a nonconventional missile strike.

"The scale of the exercise on the Israel Defense Forces bases was unprecedented in relation to previous years," the senior officer said.



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