Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Israeli Leaders Open Up Nuclear Bunker in War on Coronavirus
Error: Contact form not found.
by Reuters and Algemeiner Staff
A laborer sanitizes a bus stop as part of measures being taken by authorities aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus, in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 22, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Corinna Kern / File.
The Israeli government has opened up a war bunker in the Jerusalem hills to help coordinate its campaign against the spread of the coronavirus, Israeli officials said on Thursday.
The bunker, called the “National Management Center,” was built more than a decade ago because of concern about Iran’s nuclear program and missile exchanges with Hezbollah and Hamas.
According to Israeli officials, it includes living quarters and command facilities and can be accessed from the government complex in Jerusalem and the western foothills leading to Tel Aviv.
“This (bunker) is another tool for managing, controlling, oversight and tracking” the coronavirus, said an Israeli official who requested anonymity. “We understand that this crisis will accompany us for an extended period of time yet.”
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett appeared to play down the move, telling an Israel Radio reporter during a news conference that the bunker “is not so relevant (to the crisis). We are not under a missile attack that would require us to be underground.”
Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz had earlier joked in an interview with Tel Aviv radio station 102 FM that the bunker had limited usefulness now as “it protects from bombs, but not from microbes.”
Israel has reported 2,666 coronavirus cases and eight fatalities. After restricting people’s movements as a precaution, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that a nationwide lockdown could be ordered within days.
