Israel currently has a shortage of some 3,000 places in which to accommodate evacuees if the government were to decide to evacuate residents of both the north and the south because of fighting on both fronts, Israel Hayom has learned.
The shortage of emergency accommodations would make it difficult to implement an emergency plan to evacuate communities along the northern and southern borders.
Current figures show that some 25% of residents in the north and south would prefer to evacuate voluntarily and arrange their own accommodations, whereas 75% would want to use accommodations provided by the government. However, the government would be able to find solutions for only 65% of the population to be evacuated.
In the event of an armed conflict on both the northern and southern fronts, the entire country would be involved in the evacuation effort. For each local authority evacuated, there is supposed to be a local authority that takes in its residents. The government plan does not call to place evacuees in schools or other public spaces, but rather to find them beds in places where they would be comfortable for a few days or even weeks. Most of the evacuees will be placed in hotels and guest houses, and in communities willing to provide rooms on an emergency basis.
For years, evacuation scenarios were considered somewhat taboo, as the move was seen as caving to pressure by the enemy, in contrast to the expectation that civilians remain stalwart. But views changed following Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014, after which the defense and security establishment began to prepare the public for the possibility that in the event of an armed conflict in the north, 21 communities near the border would have to be evacuated, and that communities within 4 km. (2.5) miles of the Gaza border would be evacuated during a full-blown conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Even in these scenarios, evacuation would not be automatic. The government would decide whether or not to evacuate based on the specific circumstances.
The IDF commented in a statement: "The plan to evacuate the population along the border on a temporary basis is not only a military one. It demands coordination between many different civil and governmental entities and therefore requires much work to prepare. A lot of work has been done to move the [evacuation] plan along, and work will continue."
