Israel Practices Biological Attack Response
The Israeli government has carried out a two-day exercise it says is aimed at boosting preparedness for any terrorist attack aimed at sparking an outbreak of a highly contagious disease. Israeli officials emphasize the biological weapons drill is routine, but it comes amid rising tensions in the region, particularly from Iran.
Ha-Emek Hospital in Afula, 100 kilometers north of Tel Aviv. Personnel are responding to a simulated biological weapons attack.
In this exercise no one knows what contagious agent has been used, anthrax, botulism or another deadly organism. The staff must identify the agent and within hours begin vaccinating the local population against it.
Israeli Assistant Defense Minister Ze’ev Snir is in charge of the program. He says the drill is held each year in a different part of Israel.
“This is a general preparedness that we are trying to work on,” said Snir. “I believe that our Ministry of Health is at a good level of preparedness. And this kind of drill will make us even better prepared.”
The exercise comes amid rising tensions in the region. Western governments last week tightened sanctions against Iran after the United Nations nuclear agency (IAEA) said it had evidence that Iran was trying to build a nuclear bomb.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for even tougher measures.