By Stan Goodenough
May 25, 2008
While Israel was digesting news of sudden "progress' being made on the road towards peace with Syria, local media learned that the nation is soon be issued with newly refurbished kits for protection against non-conventional war.
Gas-masks and other protective gear that has been collected from the public over the last few years and is being updated will be made available for collection starting January 2009.
IDF officials that disclosed this information to The Jerusalem Post were careful to explain that the decision to begin handing out the equipment has not been affected by any threat of imminent war.
Syria and Iran are known to possess chemical and biological weapons, and have both been pursuing nuclear capabilities too, although the Israeli Air Force bombed a secret Syrian nuclear plant late lost year, possibly cooling that country's atomic ardor for now.
At present, the Israeli public is virtually unprotected from any chemical or biological agents that could get past the IDF and penetrate Israeli population centers.
Even after the Home Front begins distributing the gas-mask kits, it will take more than a year for everyone in Israel to be supplied.