Netanyahu joins northern Israel emergency drill

Netanyahu said that the exercise was about “defense against earthquakes and missile attacks.”

By JNS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday took part in a northern emergency drill that his office said simulated the response of civilian field hospitals to a scenario involving “hundreds of casualties and infrastructure damage.”

The premier participated remotely during the exercise, which was conducted by Ziv Medical Center in Safed and Sheba Medical Center’s civilian field hospital.

He discussed the exercise with Israeli Health Minister Haim Katz, Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov, Ziv Medical Center Director Salman Zarka and senior Home Front Command officers.

Netanyahu later spoke with Sheba Medical Center Director Yitzhak Kreiss, who briefed him on the hospital’s readiness for national emergencies involving mass casualties and infrastructure damage.

Hebrew media earlier reported that Netanyahu requested—and received—court permission to take a 30-minute break from his corruption trial at 11 a.m. in order to participate in the drill.

According to Channel 12 News, Netanyahu told the judges that the exercise was about “defense against earthquakes and missile attacks,” adding that this was a “major exercise, deploying field hospitals in the north.” He said that “the last exercise was held 15 years ago.”