Almost half of Israelis living in border communities feel unsafe

Forty percent Israelis living in the northern and southern border towns feel unsafe and would consider moving, according to a survey published by the Knesset’s Research and Information Center.

One third of the respondents said they are currently considering moving due to security concerns. The survey, published Tuesday, showed that 31 percent of residents in the north and 28 percent in the south are considering leaving their region for a quieter life.

Residents of the south endure dozens of rounds of violence a year stemming from rockets launched by Palestinians in Gaza. Several hundred rockets a year are fired into Israel forcing residents to run for cover with just 15 seconds from the time to rocket alarm system sounds.

This weekend, we will take 20 tourists who love Israel to visit S’derot, the most populace border town. We will spend time with Messianic Pastor Michael Beener, as he and others share with us about life under the threat of Gaza rockets. We will visit the “museum” at the police station, where they store hundreds of exploded rockets. Every 300 meters, there is a bomb shelter. Again, you only have 15 seconds.

In the north, the threat is less frequent, but just as serious. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah is well entrenched in Lebanon and is seeking to expand into Syria as well. The terror group is believed to have an arsenal of 100,000 rockets.

Believe it or not, 41 percent of Arab citizens in northern Israel compared to 17 percent of Jews said they do not feel safe.

The Israel Builders Association estimated that 800,000 civilians in northern Israel have no bomb shelter or secure space to run to in case of an attack.

“More than 50 percent of the people in these areas don’t have shelters, and when a major event happens there will be hundreds of thousands with no shelter to protect them,” Giora Zeltz, head of the Upper Galilee Regional Council, said. “We’re talking about a very large area with zero response time.” “There’s a real dissonance between the government’s claims and its actions. According to the government, more than 100,000 missiles are expected to land from Rosh Hanikra all the way to Mount Hermon,” he continued. “Think about the day when those missiles fall on populated areas.”