This morning I found hanging from my door handle an informational note from the Home Front Command explaining to residents the amount of time they have between hearing an alarm signifying rocket fire to entering a bomb shelter. In large letters the note reads (translated from the Hebrew where it rhymes), “To be on protected, precisely on time.” The organization appears to be part of the IDF responsible for domestic preparedness. The times reflect rocket fire from either the Gaza Strip or Southern Lebanon. View the organization’s website at www.oref.org.il. For those curious, some notable times include:
- Ramat Ha-Golan- immediate
- Sderot- 15 seconds
- Tzfat, Akko (Acre), and Ashkelon-30 seconds
- Ashdod- 45 seconds
- Haifa, Beit Shean, and Beer Sheva- 60 seconds
- Tel Aviv- 2 minutes
- Jerusalem and Dimona, the site of one of Israel’s nuclear facilities- 3 minutes.