TEL AVIV Ñ Israel plans to distribute antidotes to protect against
radiation fallout that would result from an Iraqi missile attack on the
nation's nuclear facilities.
Officials said the Defense Ministry has approved a plan to supply pills
to ward off the effects of fallout from an Iraqi or Palestinian attack on
one of Israel's two nuclear facilities. They said the pills would be
separate from a civil defense kit distributed to all Israelis on the eve of
any U.S. attack on Iraq.
Defense Ministry director-general Amos Yaron said the pills, termed
Lugol, would be distributed "very soon." They were described as iodine
capsules meant to sustain the body's immune system.
"We must institute all necessary measures of caution," Yaron said on
Wednesday. "We have known this for a long time and have been discussing
this. It could be that the Lugol pills would have a role in protecting
people if there is, heavens forbid, a radiological accident."
Officials said the Israeli decision was taken amid consultations with
the United States. They said the two countries have increased coordination
and consultation regarding civil defense protection amid the threat of a
weapons of mass destruction attack.
Israel's military has assessed that Iraq could launch a missile attack
to preempt any U.S. strike against Baghdad. The assessment includes the
prospect of an Iraqi biological or chemical weapons attack should President
Saddam Hussein determines that his regime would fall.
The distribution of pills to Israelis is said to reflect the fear that
an Iraqi missile could strike an Israeli nuclear facility. Israel maintains
a nuclear plant outside the southern city of Dimona, which was an Iraqi
target in the 1991 Gulf war. Israel maintains a nuclear research facility
near the Israeli city of Ashdod.
The Israeli Haaretz daily reported that military exercises simulated
scenarios of an enemy attack on Dimona that would result in the meltdown of
the reactor. Another prospect was that a U.S. nuclear submarine anchored in
the port of Haifa could break down and threaten the surrounding area with
nuclear radiation.
