Some 2.5 million Israelis, 28% of the population, would be vulnerable in a war because of insufficient civilian defenses, GOC Homefront Command Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee's Subcommittee for Homefront Readiness on Tuesday.
Yadai said 27% of public shelters are not up to code and 40 of the 50 national infrastructure sites earmarked for fortification have not been upgraded.
Only 38% of Israeli homes have dedicated rooms that can be sealed off in the event of a chemical weapons attack, and only 35% of facilities providing vital civilian services have been upgraded.
Yadai said 56% of Israel's local authorities would find it difficult to cope with a state of emergency.
A survey of communities near the northern border found that while in communities up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the border, 80% of homes are equipped to withstand attacks, in communities 9 to 20 kilometers (5.5 to 12.5 miles) from the border, only half the homes have been outfitted with defenses.
Yadai criticized the government for not providing local authorities with the funds necessary to improve the condition of bomb shelters.
"Heads of local authorities should be given fishing poles, not fish," he said.
The meeting was convened at the request of Zionist Union MK Amir Peretz in response to the heightened tensions in northern Israel.
Peretz called on Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon to use some of the national budget surplus to plug the major holes in the nation's homefront war readiness.
