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Nevertheless, there was more than a modicum of tension in the situation rooms of the two government companies on Dec. 31 as the minute hand on the clock moved toward midnight and the beginning of the 21st century.

The tension diminished as the minutes passed into hours without any signs of major disturbances. And the staff who had toiled over the past couple of years were able to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

"We are now in the year 2000 without any problems," IEC director-general Rafi Peled said this week.

Despite the accolades there was one moment of unexpected worry caused by a dramatic drop in demand precisely at midnight, apparently the result of lights and other appliances being switched off throughout the country — perhaps to allow revelers to kiss under the more romantic cover of darkness.

IEC supervisors recorded a 40-megawatt drop in demand, which momentarily placed the whole system in danger of collapse. An unexpected drop in demand is as dangerous to the network as an unexpected surge, and IEC staff started to look at ways of curbing output in order to redress the balance, until power demand returned to normal.

Mekorot, on the other hand, experienced no inconsistencies in demand.

Spokeswoman Merav Azulai noted that Mekorot had stopped pumping water from wells and had instead increased supplies from the National Water Carrier over the weekend. These and other steps were taken as safety precautions in the event of power failures that would stop pumping operations from underground reservoirs.

Prior to last weekend, Mekorot had filled the reservoirs supplying water to towns and cities to the brim, to ensure there would be no shortages.

On a similar note, the Israel Defense Force reported no Y2K-related malfunctions, following system checks.

An IDF spokesman attributed this success to the army's extensive preparations. Since 1996, the IDF had invested more than $20 million and 500 million work hours to prepare for the new millennium.

Likewise, Ben-Gurion Airport passed into the new millennium with no glitches, Airports Authority spokesman Pini Schiff said.

The last aircraft to land on Dec. 31 was a British Airways flight from London at 11:20 p.m. Although all the systems continued to function, the airport was quiet until 5:30 a.m. Saturday, when a SwissAir flight for Zurich took off.

According to Schiff, the Airports Authority had made no effort to stop flights during the night; the airlines did so themselves.

Israel's nuclear reactor in Dimona shut down Dec. 31 until Sunday. Officials at the Atomic Energy Commission said security and other systems operated while the reactor was shut down.