Jerusalem upgrades civil defense with remote-access public shelters

The NIS 5 million ($1.6 million) system enables shelters to open automatically upon receiving an alert from Israel’s Home Front Command or by municipal decision.

By TPS

In a move to help residents quickly reach protected areas during missile attacks, the Jerusalem municipality has installed a remote opening system in about 100 public shelters across the capital.

“This is a life-saving system that allows us to remotely control all public shelters in the city. Before, we had to send municipality workers to open them manually. Now it’s done remotely with the press of a button,” Tomer Ben Zion, the municipality’s project manager, told The Press Service of Israel.

“If a bystander is caught in the street when a siren or alert goes off, he can now find refuge in a nearby public shelter that does not require keys, locks or manual effort to open,” Ben Zion said.

The NIS 5 million ($1.6 million) system enables shelters to open automatically upon receiving an alert from Israel’s Home Front Command or by municipal decision.

At the same time, a Wi-Fi network is activated inside the shelter for public use.

The shelters remain locked during routine periods to preserve their condition, cleanliness and readiness, Ben Zion said.

The system is based on radio communication infrastructure provided by Ness Technologies, with cellular backup to prevent malfunctions. It can also be used to lock shelters remotely.

Plans are already underway to expand the system to an additional 50 shelters.