Bomb Shelter Challenges  

During this current war, we here in Israel have been advised multiple times a day by the Home Front Command to enter the “protected space” as incoming rockets or drones are launched from Iran (or from Hezbollah if one lives in the north of the country) and are expected in our area shortly.

To be sure, those of us living in and around Jerusalem have had it easier than our countrypeople in other areas, as Jerusalem tends to be in the enemy’s sights less often than Tel Aviv or the coast in general. Nevertheless, it is a harrowing experience each time the warning notice comes in on our phones and are generally followed by air raid sirens shortly thereafter.

People around the world are aware of all of this but might not realize the “back story” as it were of what it means to actually be in the “protected space.”

First of all, the meaning of those words is different for different people. For those of us who live in buildings constructed during the last 30 years or so, we generally have a “safe room” or ma’amad in Hebrew, as one of the rooms of the apartment. In our case during normal times, it serves as both a laundry room and an office space but is constructed as a safe room. That means that the walls are reinforced against rocket attacks, the room is sealed off from the rest of the world once the door is closed and the windows are secured, and being in that room protects us from indirect rocket attacks and the effects of shrapnel from rockets that have been successfully intercepted.

It does not, however, provide full protection in the case of a direct hit on the building. In such a situation, it may provide some protection, but much depends on the payload of the rocket, the angle at which it hits the building, its velocity and other factors.

For those without a safe room as part of the apartment, buildings are required to have a public bomb shelter as are all public buildings in the country. Where even that may not be available, other options are the underground stations of the Tel Aviv metro, for example, a fortified underground garage or, if totally exposed, a person can lie down in the street and cover his or her head with their hands.

Yet the back story here is something not often understood by people living abroad. The fact is that if the safe room actually does its job and provides full protection in the case of an attack on the building itself, there is a very real possibility that when it is safe to exit the room there will be no apartment outside to which to return. Think of that.

In fact, because of the threat of a strike, when the alert comes most of us generally move pretty quickly, wearing whatever clothes are on our backs and whatever footwear we are using at the moment as well. But if the alert comes in the middle of the night, we had one at 4 AM this morning for example, we generally jump out of bed and go to the safe room hardly dressed for anything more than sleep. So, it is very possible that if the building is hit, leaving the safe room will bring one into a scene of devastation and chaos where all those things that make up our normal lives are gone.

The clothes closet may have been destroyed, the credit cards and i.d. documents will be gone, as well as the keys to the car parked outside (if it is still drivable), medications, and any number of other items we depend on for every day life. To guard against that, we try to keep at least some backup items permanently in the safe room, just in case. It is impossible to condense our entire lives into one room but an extra set of clothing, duplicate medications, identification documents, etc. are a good idea to have kept safe along with our physical bodies. Never mind what all of this does to our mental state.

When the press speaks about the resiliency of Israelis, this is what they are talking about. An alert is sounded, like good soldiers eager to protect our lives we enter the safe room or community shelter, sit there constantly checking our news feed for the latest updates and when the all clear is sounded, we return to the mundane things that make up our lives. Where 20 minutes ago we were wondering if there will be an apartment to which to return, now we discuss where to buy the freshest vegetables in time of war…..and the transition is relatively seamless.

Bottom line? While there is almost universal support here for what we and the US are doing in and to Iran, we still hope for an early end to the hostilities and a return to the halcyon days when all we had to do was worry about where to buy fresh vegetables. May it be soon.