Comparing International Emergency Management Operations

Israeli Emergency Management

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Emergency management is quite different in Israel from that of any other nation in the world. Israel faces severe and consistent emergency management challenges that are principally associated with warfare and terrorist attacks. It is estimated that during the height of the 2008–2009 Gaza conflict, nearly 3,000 rockets and mortars were fired into Israel. This demonstrates Israel’s primary emergency management vulnerability.

Subsequently, Israel’s emergency management system did not develop and has not evolved because of common responses to natural or technical hazards. Instead, the Israeli system of emergency management developed primarily as a result of the persistent existential threats experienced by the small nation. Subsequently, although there is no absence of technical or natural hazards, Israel maintains a single, military-centric approach to emergency management that is based exclusively on fighting terrorism and protecting its citizens against terrorist attacks. This approach to emergency management in Israel is predicated on the concept of the defense of the rear area.

Defense of the rear area is similar to the concept of civil defense previously employed in the United States and the United Kingdom. However, in Israel, defense of the rear area is an integral part of a nationwide strategic policy where the survival of country is equally dependent on actions taken both on the combat front and in the rear area. It should be remembered, however, that Israel is not much larger than New Jersey. It is also instructive to note that the many hazard-related items mentioned on Israel's public emergency management guide address how to prepare for and protect oneself from rockets and mortar attacks (The Home Front Command, n.d.).

Reference

The Home Front Command. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.oref.org.il/14- en/PAKAR.aspx