JERUSALEM — Israelis have gone on heightened alert after the launch of joint U.S.-British strikes against Taliban and suspected terrorist targets in Afghanistan.
Long lines formed at gas mask distribution centers, just like before the Gulf War a decade ago when Iraq fired Scud missiles at Israel. Still, top officials said they believe the attacks would have no immediate repercussions on the lives of Israelis.
Israel’s defense minister sought to calm the nation on Monday, saying no attack on Israel was expected in response to the U.S. and British strikes against Afghanistan.
“Israeli citizens can rest quietly,” the defense minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, told Israeli TV. “We are not a party to this war…We have taken every situation into consideration, including the spread of the war toward the direction of Iraq.”
Just in case, however, Israelis packed gas mask distribution centers despite the official assurances that they were not in danger.
Gas mask distribution centers are open throughout the year, but the demand shot up after the U.S. attacks.
Forty-thousand masks were distributed per day in the period immediately following Sept. 11, said Capt. Jacob Dallal, an army spokesman. But that number has dropped off recently to about 10,000 per day and the army is not considering opening more than the 30 distribution centers now in operation, he added.
On Monday, lines were long, but not longer than in previous days. Some of those waiting in line said they were just being cautious.
“My wife is nervous,” said Yossi Samson as he bounced his toddler daughter, Maya, on his knee in a center at a Jerusalem mall. “She asked me to come and exchange masks.”
Betty Green, who made aliyah from California 30 years ago, said she wasn’t sure gas masks would help in a real chemical attack, but preferred to be safe rather than sorry. “If they use mustard gas, we’re all gone,” Green said in reference to the Iraqis.
In the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq launched 39 Scud missiles against Israel — which was not part of the coalition against Iraq — in retaliation for the U.S.-led attacks. They were not fitted with chemical weapons, as feared, but killed two people and caused extensive damage.
Some companies are responding to — and banking on — Israeli fear.
The Netanya-based Fire Center Ltd. opened several years ago to offer fire safety services. Since Sept. 11, the company has been running dramatic advertisements linked to the possibility of chemical-weapon attacks.
“Emergency!!!” reads a red-and-yellow ad that appeared in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz. “Gas Masks — Filters — Gas Protection Suits — Safety Equipment For Shelters.”
The store’s supplies were already starting to run low, marketing manager Mickey Malkin said. But since the weekend, Fire Center has almost been cleaned out.
In a video released Sunday, suspected terror mastermind Osama bin Laden attempted to link the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Broadcast over Qatar’s al-Jazeera network, bin Laden said, “I swear to God that America will not live in peace before peace reigns in Palestine.”
Though he stopped short of taking responsibility for the attacks, bin Laden warmly praised them.
“America has been filled with horror from north to south and east to west, and thanks be to God what America is tasting now is only a copy of what we have tasted,” he said.
“Our Islamic nation has been tasting the same for more 80 years,” he added, calling President Bush the “head of the infidels.”
Until now, Islamic extremists who have justified the Sept. 11 attacks have not focused primarily on American support for Israel. Bin Laden’s comments on the subject appeared to be an attempt to rally Islamic support and cast the U.S.-led effort for an international anti-terror coalition as an attack on Islam.
The United States has “come out to fight Islam in the name of fighting terrorism,” bin Laden said.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres criticized bin Laden for linking the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States to the Palestinian cause.
“What’s he blabbering about?” Peres told Israel Radio. “You don’t need any war of liberation for the Palestinians. We offered them liberation without war.”
In the first official comment from Jerusalem after the attacks, Peres praised the “brave decision” by Bush.
“I think that all us, first of all, are praying for the welfare of the American army and its allies,” Peres told Israel’s Channel Two television.
Israeli commentators said the assessment could change if the United States targets Iraq in subsequent phases of the campaign.
In the meantime, Israel must show restraint, according to Ha’aretz analyst Ze’ev Schiff, who wrote that Israel should not look for an opportunity to strike Palestinian targets by using the U.S.-British action in Afghanistan as cover.
The general consensus in Jerusalem is that Israel is willing to sit out the war, watching it on television, commented Ehud Ya’ari, a TV Arab affairs analyst.
“This will be a celebration of media,” Ya’ari said. “The Taliban wants a direct pipeline to the West,” and is likely to use al-Jazeera as a messenger.
As Israelis prepared this week for the Simchat Torah holiday, they purchased colorful plastic flags for their children and challot for the festive meals, but plastic sheeting and tape were low on the shopping list. Plastic sheeting is used to cover windows in order to create sealed rooms in case of chemical warfare.
“No one’s snatching it up,” said one hardware storeowner, pointing toward his supply of plastic sheeting and duct tape. “I guess they’re not worried yet.”