Israel steps up military drill

Agence France-Presse

Israelis throughout the country were asked to head to shelters when they heard the sirens, with radio and television underlining that it was only as part of an exercise.

"The purpose of the siren is to affect the consciousness of the Israeli public," Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said. "Every citizen of the state should know that an emergency drill can take place anytime anywhere, and how they should act.

Schoolchildren, government workers and shoppers at malls headed to basements when the alerts screeched across the country as part of a five-day exercise that simulates responses to rocket strikes from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and missile attacks from arch-foes Syria and Iran.

Many, however, seemed indifferent. "We've just ordered food," said Vered, 39, whose salad and orange juice arrived at a cafe inside the Dizengoff Centre shopping mall in Tel Aviv, where nearly all those with seats stayed put. "It's not that we don't think it matters," she said. "Had we known we wouldn't have ordered. It's important. But not so important that we'd leave our food."

Exercise Turning Point 3 is also aimed at simulating the conduct of rescue and medical services during earthquakes and epidemics and involves the participation of schools, government ministers and other state institutions.

At the Mitzpe Golan school in Bnei Yehuda on the Golan Heights, children lined up in a more or less orderly fashion to enter shuttered classrooms as the sirens began wailing. "This kind of exercise is particularly relevant in the Golan as the danger is real," one teacher said as the children clapped and sang a song.