Protection of the Population – The Civil Protection in Israel

Abstract

After World War II the dimensions of the protection of the population changed in Europe. While earlier the protection of the population against armed conflicts and air attacks had to be organised, from the 1970s the focus of the protection of the population shifted to protection activities used in times of natural and man-made disasters. However, in the Middle-East the political situation has not allowed such shift, and the tasks of the protection of the population cannot concentrate solely on disaster management. In addition to the armed conflicts of the region in the past two years Israeli protection authorities also had to fight devastating fires two times in the past years in Haifa and the surrounding areas. This article attempts to present the present activities of Israel performed for the protection of the population.