Vision to Reality: The Reut Blog

The much anticipated Turning Point 3 Home Front emergency exercise came to an end last week. As part of the drill, civilians were as asked to enter bomb shelters when air sirens were sounded nationwide.

The drill was the most comprehensive in Israel’s history and included the cabinet, government ministries, local councils and municipalities, the emergency economic forum (MELAH), the home front command (PAKAR) and the National Emergency Agency (RACHEL), as well as volunteer organizations and the public in general. Its objective was to test the preparedness of the home front agencies in handling emergency situations and providing the population’s basic needs based on various emergency scenarios.

The drill is an important step on the road to creating a “culture of preparedness” in the Israeli home front. Nevertheless, implementing such a culture requires harnessing the capacity of all sectors of Israeli society to play a role in emergencies. In addition to testing the emergency agencies, there is also a need to consolidate a strategy to activate all sectors of society, primarily the business and philanthropic sectors as well as non-governmental organizations.

Improving the awareness of all citizens regarding emergency situations requires them not just to enter bomb shelters when needed, but to acquire a set of values, codes of conduct and habits that will allow them to deal with emergencies successfully.