“Israel” Prepares for Infrastructure Damage in War with Hezbollah: Electric Collapse, Damage to Major Highways

By Staff

Damage to major highways, bridge collapses, attempts to infiltrate ports and total chaos throughout “Israel” are just some of the scenarios which the Transportation Ministry and many of the government companies responsible for the entity’s infrastructure are prepare for as part of a possible war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

These infrastructures have already suffered severe injury in both the north and south of the entity since the beginning of the war.

A special discussion was held Sunday evening at the Airports Authority with the participation of CEOs and chairmen of all the ministry's infrastructure companies, alongside senior department managers in the subsidiaries and the top of the so-called Transportation Ministry, including CEO Moshe Ben Zaken.

In the discussion, a variety of scenarios were discussed in the shadow of the fighting in the north with Hezbollah and the continuation of the “Israeli” army’s fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The group decided to establish a northern military force to integrate the activity in the air, sea and on land and provide a response in case of damage to infrastructure, road disruptions and transportation problems and to respond to threats that arise as a result of the worsening of the nature of Hezbollah's rockets and their frequency.

The “Israeli” Transportation Ministry claimed that “as part of learning lessons from the war in Gaza, the director general of the ministry instructed the infrastructure companies that in all work plans, projects and tenders, the issue of functional continuity will be at the top of the list of priorities in order to improve the response in the future and to carry out a simulation of damage to main routes, in important and strategic places and to prepare a plan of alternative ways of access in coordination with the police and other infrastructure companies.”

At the same time, meeting participants also discussed recruiting additional workers and security guards in a northern war scenario, along with an effort to find internal alternatives, promoting a strategic plan to improve the readiness of the ministry and companies, expediting critical procurement processes, a communication and information plan for travelers abroad if foreign airlines pull out of the country, cyber-attacks and continued operation of the seaports.

The ministry's director general also instructed staff to devise exercises around possible scenarios in order to improve response capabilities in the northern region and to ensure a professional and optimal response in real time, including events in the Haifa Port area and the threat to strategic facilities in the area.

In recent weeks, many concerns have arisen regarding “Israel's” readiness to deal with a large-scale attack, which will likely include Hezbollah's attempts to attack critical infrastructure sites, including electricity, water and major roads.

Shaul Goldstein, CEO of Noga - "Israel" Independent System Operator Ltd, an electricity supplier, caused a stir when he said late last week that "we are not ready for war." He warned that Hezbollah could easily bring down the electric grid in “Israel”, saying: “After 72 hours without electricity it will be impossible to live in ‘Israel’.”