The five-day exercise will simulate simultaneous rocket strikes from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and missile attacks from arch-foes Syria and Iran.

"The mere fact that Israel is preparing with such an exercise improves our ability to better protect our citizens and ultimately lowers the threat," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the cabinet meeting.

During the drill, Israel will be staging a "doomsday scenario" of simultaneous strikes against the country, defence ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror told AFP last week.

This will include conventional, chemical and biological strikes, as well as a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings, against large population centres.

Exercise Turning Point 3 will also simulate the conduct of rescue and medical services during earthquakes and epidemics and will involve the participation of schools, government ministers and other state institutions.

The drill's main activity will come on Tuesday, when air-raid sirens sound across the country and citizens must scramble to shelters, in some areas within seconds and others within no more than three minutes.

There will also be simulated cabinet meetings in which ministers will weigh their response to such attacks and scenarios.

"Schools, kindergartens and educational institutions across Israel will participate in the exercise, practising emergency entry into protected spaces," the army said in a statement. "Rear military bases, governmental offices and public institutions will also practice."

It is the third consecutive year Israel is conducting such an exercise, although this year's drill is the largest-ever.

"It is an important exercise and it is good that it is happening at this time," Defence Minister Ehud Barak said.

The manoeuvres were first held in the aftermath of the July-August 2006 war with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, which revealed major weaknesses in how the Jewish state's homefront dealt with the rocket attacks.

"The Second Lebanon War revealed that the homefront was not well prepared for war and citizens found it hard to adapt to the special situation," Dror said.

Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told army radio on Sunday that "our enemies think that the rear is our weak point, we have to reinforce this front and be ready to face any situation."

The drill comes just two weeks after the air force wrapped up a massive four-day exercise that tested its ability to defend against missile and jet strikes from Syria and Iran.

It was the first time the army has simulated strikes from the Islamic republic, located more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) away.

Israel considers Iran its biggest threat and is a leading campaigner against its nuclear programme, which it suspects is a cover for ambitions to build atomic weapons, charges vehemently denied by Tehran.

The Jewish state is itself regarded as having the strongest military in the Middle East and is believed to have a nuclear arsenel which it has never confirmed or denied.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News