A surprise drill at the Israel Defense Forces headquarters in Rabin Base in Tel Aviv sparked panic Sunday evening, sending Israelis in the city center as well as in the neighboring cities of Givatayim and Ramat Gan scrambling to get to nearby bomb shelters.
It was only after concerned residents made numerous calls to the police about the siren that an IDF Spokesperson Unit issued a statement explaining the siren was sounded as part of a military drill.
Tel Aviv resident Shoshana was with her granddaughters near the city's Sarona Market, located in close proximity to the base, when the siren blared.
She said that "as soon as the siren went off, people looked at one another, not knowing what to do."
According to Shoshana, "There were some people who started to run toward the food market, and I also took my two granddaughters, who had started to panic, and we rushed over there. It was only when we got there that we realized it had been a drill. I don't understand how the military does something like this, and in the center of Tel Aviv."
In a statement, an IDF Spokesperson's Unit said, "This was a flash drill, and as part of the drill, a siren that sounded on the base was heard in the Greater Tel Aviv area."
