Homeland Security in Israel The Societal and First Responder Environments NADAV MORAG CENTER FOR HOMELAND DEFENSE AND SECURITY DEPT. OF NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
Slide 1 Opening Credits Music Slide 2 Homeland Security in Israel Module 4: The Societal and First Responder Environments Slide 3 Homeland Security in Israel The final module in this series will focus on the societal and emergency responder environments in Israel. Slide 4 Preparedness and Response Efforts Preparedness and response efforts in Israel traditionally follow two directions: 1) preparing the public through strategic communication and public education efforts and, 2) preparing the emergency responder community. These efforts are geared towards preparedness and response with respect to terrorist acts and acts of war, though they can, of course, be applied to a greater or lesser degree in other contexts. Israel, however, has never experienced large- scale natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, despite the fact that it lies along the Syrian- African rift and hence is a prime candidate for a major earthquake. Slide 5 Strategic Communication Israeli strategic communications policies encompass both short term and long- term efforts.
The longer- term efforts focus on educating the public through the school systems and educational television programs (for children), and via public service announcements on television and radio and through websites (an estimated 52% of the population regularly use the Internet). They also involve the military and police creating a special system in which particular journalists (sometimes embedded within IDF units) are given access to information, provided they fulfill certain requirements. The IDF employs such a system with respect to what are known as military journalists. These select journalists receive a special ID and are given access to senior officers, military operations and other activities, provided they follow directives with respect to sensitive information. This status can be lost, thus creating a built- in tendency to fulfill the military s wishes with respect to the nature of information being reported on by these journalists. They were also required, in times of war, to clear their reports with the IDF Spokesperson s Office before publication or broadcast. For immediate crisis situations, such as in the wake of a terrorist attack, the Israel Police (which, as noted in a previous module, is the lead response agency) will set up a communications center to provide information to the press, and senior commanders (including the regional commander and usually the police commissioner) will appear on scene to speak to the press. Slide 6 Citizen Awareness In times of severe crisis, the IDF s Homefront Command (HFC) is given overall responsibility for emergency response. The HFC maintains a website with instructions in Hebrew, Arabic and English. This slide shows the HFC s English homepage in the immediate wake of the 2006 Lebanon War. This slide from the HFC website provides civil defense information. This HFC webpage is designed for children. Since the first Gulf War of 1991, Israeli citizens have been issued with kits that include gas masks (to deal with chemical and biological threats) and atropine injections (to counteract Nerve Agents). The explanatory information on use of this equipment is printed in Hebrew, Arabic, English and Russian. The Homefront Command also encourages families in older apartment buildings to prepare a room with emergency supplies that can be sealed in the event of a chemical or biological attack (terrorist or military). All buildings in Israel are equipped with bomb shelters, usually in the basement. However, as chemical substances weigh more than air, it was deemed unsafe, in the event of a chemical attack, to have citizens go to underground bomb shelters where the concentration of chemical substances in the air was likely to be greater. Since the 1991 Gulf War, all buildings (residential and commercial) built in Israel must, according to the building code, have concrete and steel reinforced rooms with sealable
windows and doors (one per apartment or floor in residential buildings and one per floor in commercial buildings). This HFC webpage contains tips for items to be kept in the sealed room. The Israel Police also provide information to the public in terms of spotting and coping with terrorist threats, including suicide terrorism. This police brochure provides tips on identifying suspicious behavior. The other side of the brochure provides information on what to do during an attack and post- incident. As with HFC materials, police materials are available in Hebrew, Arabic, English and sometimes Russian. Slide 7 The Military Role In emergency situations, as with other matters relating to security, the military serves as the key agency. In normal emergency situations (such as in the wake of a terrorist attack), the Israel Police serve as the lead response agency, with responsibility both for the scene of the attack, as well as for trying to track down terrorist handlers trying to escape from the site of the attack (most suicide terrorists, as noted in a previous module, are brought to the site of the attack by one or two handlers from the terrorist organization). However, in extreme crisis situations (such as during wartime or, presumably, in the wake of a mega- terrorist attack), the Minister of Defense can declare a limited state of emergency (not to be confused with the legal state of emergency granting the authorities special powers in the sphere of counterterrorism, which has existed since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948). Under this limited state of emergency, the IDF Homefront Command assumes direct command over all assets police, EMS, fire, the public health and hospital systems, the public transportation system, etc. The HFC is also given authority to force people to stay in bomb shelters or to evacuate them from their homes, to requisition buses for emergency evacuation (bus companies are required to maintain a predetermined number of buses to evacuate victims of a mass- casualty event), and to requisition heavy equipment to extricate people from collapsed structures. The HFC also maintains a highly trained search and rescue team, as well as personnel and equipment for HAZMAT operations (along with the Israeli fire service).
Slide 8 The Home Front Command Most of the HFC personnel are reservists, who can be mobilized for duty within 48 hours. When a limited state of emergency does not exist, the HFC is still in charge of training and preparedness. The HFC s preparedness efforts are focused on four goals: - the creation of common operational procedures and means of communication between first responder agencies, - the development of joint training protocols and the running of joint training exercises, - preparations for the setting up of a central command post under the command of the HFC to manage incidents, and - the development of clear protocols for who is responsible for what during and post- incident. The HFC is also responsible for public communication during the incident, and all media outlets are required by law to provide the military with immediate access. The HFC also relies on a system of volunteers who provide services including: - assistance in search and rescue efforts. - assisting the military in distributing gas masks, prophylaxis, and other items to the population. - evacuating the elderly and the infirm as well as others in need of assistance from danger zones. - operating and maintaining public bomb shelters. - participating in public communications campaigns and answering phones at the HFC s hotline center, and - supporting various HFC logistical activities. Slide 9 The Civil Guard The Israel Police also maintains a substantial force of volunteers (over 70,000). Police volunteers range from uniformed police reserve officers with full police powers to Civil Guard volunteers with limited police powers, who help patrol neighborhoods,
shorelines, border areas, city centers, and the like. Civil Guard personnel (most of whom are armed) focus on deterring crime, and also play a limited counterterrorism role, more as situationally- aware citizens than as a counterterrorism force (as Civil Guard volunteers are not usually highly trained though some have combat experience from their service in the IDF). Slide 10 The Emergency Defender Environment In addition to the Israel Police, other first responder agencies include: - The Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David) (MDA). Israel s primary EMS service, which operates 95 stations around the country and has a fleet of some 400 ambulances. Typically, the first ambulance on the scene becomes the command center for the other MDA ambulances that arrive. The MDA employs a policy of immediate evacuation of victims, who are treated on the way to the nearest available hospital, and not at the site. Those requiring more specialized treatment may be transported from the nearest hospital to a different location for further treatment. - The hospitals. Most of the hospitals in Israel are either government- run, or belong to one of four government- sponsored HMOs. Consequently, they are required to operate within the framework of the Ministry of Health and under protocols developed with the HFC. - The Ministry of Health (more of which will be said later). Is responsible, among other things, for maintaining supplies of prophylaxis, developing protocols and running training exercises, as well as overseeing the entire public health system (including public and private hospitals). - The Tax Authority and National Insurance Institute. Is responsible for reimbursing business and residences damaged in acts of terrorism or acts of war, and for providing stipends to persons injured in terrorist attacks or to families of persons killed in terrorist attacks. Tax Authority and National Insurance Institute inspectors arrive at the scene within a few hours of terrorist attacks in order to start calculating the compensation to be received for material damage, as well as injury and death. Finally, - Municipal governments. Set up hotlines to provide information on the injured and where they have been sent, and also dispatch social workers to comfort family and friends of the deceased and injured, as well as the survivors of the attacks, themselves.
Slide 11 Centralozed Medical Systems Israel s system of socialized medicine means that, unlike the situation in the United States, most hospitals are public facilities (either government or HMO- owned), and operate within guidelines set down by the Ministry of Health and the HFC. Israel s medical system can handle several thousand victims of a mass- casualty attack, and contain facilities for coping with chemical, biological, and radiological attacks. Slide 12 Ministry of Health The Ministry of Health (MOH) oversees the day- to- day operations and preparedness efforts of the Israeli health system, in cooperation with the IDF s Homefront Command. The MOH is directly responsible for: - The development of standard operating procedures and protocols (in cooperation with the HMOs and the IDF Medical Corps). - The funding of infrastructure development in the hospitals and other public health facilities. - The acquisition and supply of critical equipment. - The stockpiling and provision of prophylaxis and drugs for treatment; and, - Evaluating the state of preparedness of the public health system. During an emergency, the MOH is also responsible for classifying incidents, mobilizing hospitals, and providing logistical support (in a limited state of emergency, it does this under the auspices of the HFC). The MOH is also responsible, through the hospitals and other health facilities (who are directly responsible for these activities), for ensuring that regular drills are held, that appropriate instruction and training is given to health personnel, and that EMS services are integrated with the local facilities. The MOH is also responsible for public communication on health matters, such as instructing the public regarding what needs to be done after a biological or chemical attack.
Slide 13 Societal Resiliency To sum up, in keeping with Israel s strategic approach of crisis management, the public communications and the actions of emergency responders are designed to prepare the public for the eventuality of terrorist attacks, as well as to minimize their impact once they have occurred. As the battle with terrorists will largely be decided by the targeted society s resilience (or lack thereof), much effort in Israel is put into creating and maintaining that resiliency. In the strategic communications sphere, this involves educating the public as to how to cope with suspicious persons and objects, how to be aware of one s surroundings, and how to respond when an attack occurs. Information is also provided to the public in specific geographic areas where terrorists are thought to be at large and to pose a threat to the public; this rarely results in panic, though it does produce a much more aware and psychologically prepared public. In the area of emergency response to terrorist attacks, the first priority is, naturally, the treatment of the wounded and evacuation of the dead. Once this is accomplished, however, the focus of the authorities (through the actions of tax and welfare authorities, as well as municipal governments) is to return to a state of normalcy as quickly as possible. Israel makes a conscious effort to wash the blood off the sidewalk as quickly as possible, and to repair any physical damage speedily so that the scene of the attack returns to normal, sometimes within a matter of hours. This is considered by the Israeli authorities to be a critical part of the process of coping with terrorism, as Israel wants to avoid creating a sense, within Israeli society and outside of it, that terrorists are successful in their efforts to disrupt life and the normal flow of daily activities. Ultimately, in the Israeli view of things, the public serves almost as a critical infrastructure that needs to be hardened (since it is the primary focus of terrorist attacks), and those hardening efforts involve education, provision of timely information (that is not sugar- coated ), rapid emergency response and recovery from attacks, and a return to normalcy. Slide 14 Closing Credits Music