By Itamar Eichner
Ynet News
Preparing for Iran strike? Foreign embassies in Israel have recently started to formulate contingency plans to evacuate their citizens from the Jewish State in case of a missile attack on Israel.
Senior officials in Jerusalem said that several diplomatic missions have shown great interest in preparing for various emergency situations, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday.
In the framework of the preparations for possible fallout in case of an Israeli strike on Iran, foreign diplomats stationed in Israel requested that the Foreign Ministry equip them and their family members with gas masks.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry has provided foreign embassies in Israel with a list of public bomb shelters across the country, as well as an instructional pamphlet in English produced by the IDF Home Front Command.
Diplomatic officials deployed in Israel are particularly concerned about the possibility of a missile offensive on the Jewish State that would prompt thousands of Israeli citizens with foreign passports to seek evacuation from country.
A senior European diplomat said that in such case, the European Union does not have the means to undertake a massive evacuation operation within a short period of time.
Meanwhile, the Home Front Command is preparing to launch a two-day drill in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Wednesday. IDF forces, firefighters, police officers and Magen David Adom emergency services will be taking part in the exercise.
Army officials said that heavy military and emergency vehicle traffic is expected in the city’s Shimshon neighborhood during the day. The drill marks the latest in a series of Home Front exercises held in Israel in recent months.
The Air Force will also be holding major maneuvers Wednesday, in the northern Israel Galilee region.