«Israel» to Evacuate 78,000 Settlers in the Event of Hizbullah War

Local Editor

Amidst fears of war erupting with Hizbullah, the "Israeli" regime's military forces had diverted from its traditional military principles.

The "Israel" Occupation Forces [IOF] had drawn up plans to evacuate settlements in the North in the event of war with Hizbullah, Haaretz had learned. The move marks a stark departure from consensus "Israeli" doctrine and is likely to spark heated debate.

According to Haaretz, the "Israeli" entity does not evacuate any settler neither does it abandon settlements under any military attack by an enemy, at any price; as any withdrawal from a single centimeter will be considered a failure, even a defeat.

Though, the report pointed that the IOF is not talking about withdrawing its forces but rather about an evacuation of settlers, as orderly as possible, from the conflict zone during hostilities to reduce casualties and enable the army to defend these locales more effectively.

Despite their awareness of the expected criticism, during this past year Kochavi and Home Front Command head Yoel Strick - who will replace Kochavi as head of Northern Command next year, when the latter becomes deputy chief of staff - have been formulating a comprehensive action plan called Safe Distance.

The plan, the details of which are being published here for the first time, is intended to be put into effect from the moment war breaks out in the north or, in the case of an intelligence warning, in the hours before the fighting begins.

It relates to the communities in the range of up to four kilometers from the border with Lebanon, more or less congruent with the range of the heavy Burqan rockets, and to a number of additional locales that are considered relatively vulnerable.

The plan covers about 50 communities, home to about 78,000 people. Twenty-two of the locales are within only one kilometer of the border.

A senior officer in Northern Command told Haaretz that "If a war breaks out, the final decision to evacuate civilians will, of course, be in the hands of the government."

Col. Itzik Bar, commander of the northern district of Central Command, says: "It is necessary to weigh things carefully, without tying ourselves up in doctrinal knots," adding that "When the threat level in a community adjacent to the border is so high that it is difficult for you to promise this, the right thing will be to act in a different way and consider evacuation."

For his part, Lt. Col. Yaniv Krief, regional war officer of the Galilee Formation that is responsible for the border with Lebanon, said the army estimates that not all the inhabitants will want to or be able to be evacuated.

In Northern Command they believe that about 40 percent of the residents will leave independently. Others will need help.

Based on Haaretz, the War Ministry, in ordinary times, funds routine security coordinators in every community and preparedness groups that act in coordination with the IOF units responsible for the border.

In times of emergency, the "Israeli" army will dispatch units from infantry brigade training bases to the communities, consisting of soldiers who are in the final stages of their training. Later, battalions from the "Home Front Command" rescue brigade will come.

During the first days of a war, in time of need these battalions will deal with rescuing casualties and, together with forces from Northern Command, will help arrange the evacuation of settlers to more distant locations. The assumption is that at least part of the evacuation will be carried out while the communities are under fire.

The "Israeli" entity's so-called "National Emergency Authority" is assigned to help transfer inhabitants out of the locales by bus and bring them to intake centers in places determined in advance, far from the border.

There too, of course, there will not be complete immunity from Hizbullah rockets but there is a considerable difference in the risk level of places adjacent to the border and those in the center and south of the country.

There are plans to evacuate inhabitants of specific communities to al-Quds [Jerusalem], Eilat, the Jordan Valley and West Bank settlements near Tul Karm and Jenin.

Col. Bar said the evacuation will be to hotels, hostels and if necessary to educational institutions that will be adapted as temporary shelters for settlers.

Source: Haaretz, Edited by website team