Next war's outcome will hinge on Home Front resilience

One can assume that, once again, most of us won't get too excited about the national Home Front Command drill. When the sirens wail at 11 a.m. and again at 7 p.m., a large part of the population won't remember that there is a drill, and those who do remember will simply wait for the sirens to silence. Only a few people will make their way to a shelter or protected space - too few for a country whose home front is constantly being threatened.

The public's apathy could be seen as an advantage: the Israeli public wants to live. Don't bother the people with drills and sirens; call them when there's a real emergency. People will know what to do then, or they'll at least know to ask.

This apathy, however, could also be seen as a disadvantage: the public is living in a bubble. It is detached from the surrounding threats and hasn't internalized the fact that thousands of missiles are pointed at every location within Israel at all times. At the moment of truth, there won't be time to ask questions. A dry run now will save lives when missiles start falling all around us.

Both arguments are reasonable - and a citizen has the right to choose one way or the other. If he wants to, he can prepare, or if he wants to, he can shut his eyes and ignore the threat.

While each individual is entitled to choose, our authorities do not have that luxury: They must be prepared so that the home front incompetence characterizing the Second Lebanon War is not repeated. Many of the lessons from the summer of 2006 have been learned and implemented, mainly in terms of defense, and the Home Front Command has impressively improved its abilities over the past five years.

The problem remains on the civilian side - in the problematic functioning of some government offices, in the multiple rules and regulations, and in the lack of authority the new Home Front Command ministry has over other agencies in the event of an emergency. It's unclear how long this ministry will last, especially considering that it is dependent on the Defense Ministry, where some officials (along with others) are trying to sabotage the birth of an agency that is literally meant to save lives.

One hopes that the prime minister takes advantage of Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, scheduled to take place in a bunker in an undisclosed location in the Jerusalem hills, to confront unaddressed issues relating to the home front. He should know better than anyone that what isn't taken care of now, during routine days, will be clarified down the line at the state comptroller's office.

The results of the next war will largely be determined by the public's resilience on the home front. While the public's indifference might be cause for concern today, gaps in the authorities' levels of preparedness - in terms of planning, authority, and budgets - are far more worrisome. It would be wise to fix them before a real alarm sounds.

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