By Stan Goodenough
Mar 17, 2008
Israel is to hold its largest-ever emergency exercise in April - shutting down parts of the country as it tests its responses to massive, possibly non-conventional, attacks from Syria and Iran.
This is according to the top story Monday in The Jerusalem Post, and comes the day after Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem was quoted as saying a war between Syria and Israel is certainly a possibility.
Starting April 6, and stretching over five days, the emergency drill will include a convening of the cabinet following "an enemy attack," the sounding of sirens country-wide, mass-evacuations from "hit" areas - simulating responses to chemical and nuclear strikes - and the inundating of hospitals with thousands of Israeli casualties.
A high-ranking defense official said the drill would be "the biggest exercise in Israel's history."
He took pains to stress, however, that Israel was not planning the event because of fears of an imminent war but rather to implement lessons learned from the Second Lebanon War.
Moallem, interviewed by the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Anba, was asked if he believed that Israel was preparing for war against Lebanon or Syria
"Everything is possible", he answered, adding that "every rational person should prepare for every eventuality in the wake of the crazy policies advocated by the US, whose goals are certainly not achieving stability and security in the region."
WorldNetDaily reported last week Britain's Secret Intelligence Service was saying that Iran's Revolutionary Guards are training hundreds of Hamas fighters to prepare for an all-out war this summer against Israel.