Israel's Ashdod city is confidently independent

In the "Iron Swords" war, the State of Israel failed to protect its citizens. This fact must prevent sleep from the eyes of the heads of local authorities, who are a central address in the daily life of the residents.

A local authority does not need and cannot replace the state in maintaining national security, but it must and can be a central and active partner in protecting the lives of residents in an emergency.

The traditional division of responsibilities between the central and local governments in routine and emergency situations is undergoing a severe shake-up in these days of fighting and requires a fundamental paradigm shift.

No longer just providing civil services on days when they are repaired and maintaining resilience in an emergency. Rather, a new thinking on the insight that the State of Israel needs to expand the powers of the local authority in emergency situations, while allocating designated resources in advance for the unique activity arising from the state of emergency.

The performance of the local leadership in some of the northern settlements during the Second Girls' War damaged the sense of national resilience, and caused the State of Israel to encourage and guide local authorities in building independence.

Functional in an emergency. However, this independence was reduced to the world of civil resilience, while neglecting the element of direct protection of the lives of the residents, as a critical element in the sense of personal security and local resilience. The Home Front Command accompanied us, the heads of the authorities, in the construction of a passive defense system that mainly includes an effective horn system, protected areas, and life-saving defensive rules, alongside an organizational structure based on the employees of the local authority, which is adapted to the emergency situation and maintains functional continuity of the authority.

The policy of the Home Front Command and the National Emergency Authority (NAHA) in this context, was embedded in the correct statement, which was repeated by the heads of the authorities: "What works routinely works in an emergency, and what does not work routinely does not work in an emergency." 

Later on, the layer of defense was added through the Iron Dome, but at no point was consideration given to the active civil defense component. This conception completely collapsed in the first hours of the "Iron Swords" war, with the loss of the lives of many civilians in the settlements surrounding Gaza. The extraordinary resourcefulness and fortitude of many citizens in the communities where the murderous terrorism of Hamas came knocking on their door, prevented a greater disaster and a spillover of the murders towards Ashkelon, Ashdod, and perhaps even north of them. Only local police forces that acted immediately and IDF units that arrived after the first hours completed the containment of the massive attack and the surprise of the Hamas organization.

In Ashdod, we are advancing a cure for the plague and have initiated, in coordination with the local police station, the establishment of a civil defense system that will be based on volunteer residents of Ashdod who are veterans of combat units, which will focus on 4 areas:

• The first - standby classes, of volunteers from elite units who will be recruited by the municipality, but will be equipped with weapons, will undergo rapid training and will be available for immediate activation in security incidents by the police.
• The second area, security units - ex-combat units that will assist the urban security in ongoing security tasks in crowded centers, in an ongoing emergency situation such as war, and will contribute to the prevention of terrorist attacks and increase the sense of personal security of the residents.
• The third field, the all-terrain vehicle unit - volunteers, veterans of combat units who own all-terrain vehicles that assisted the urban security in patrolling and security missions within the city limits. 
• The fourth area, drone operator unit - volunteers who own drones and have accumulated over 25 hours of experience in operating a drone that will be operated by the municipal security and the police, for the purposes of ongoing security missions and security events.

The response of the residents of Ashdod was immediate, and we are in the midst of a screening process and placement of approximately 500 volunteers in the 4 units that make up the civil defense system we are establishing. In our estimation, the array will be operational during the next week, and will allow us as a local authority to provide the residents of Ashdod with an additional dimension of civil defense already in the "Iron Swords" war.

The campaign could be long and protracted and it holds the potential for a multi-arena event that would include an arena of internal terrorism from the direction of Judea and Samaria. The "Iron Swords" war teaches us that the local authorities in the State of Israel must also be independent in civil security and receive full budgetary support from the state for this important move