Israel Declares State of Emergency : Reaction: General sees chances of an attack on the Jewish state as ‘happily’ approaching zero.

Israel declared a formal state of national emergency early today, shortly after the United States launched air strikes against Iraq.

But by dawn, the Jewish state had not been attacked by Iraq despite President Saddam Hussein’s threat to do so, and a senior Israeli general told Israel Radio: “The more time passes without missiles hitting Israel, the more the chances of that happening--happily--approach zero.”

Israeli army sources reported early today that U.S.-led air forces bombed Iraqi missile sites in the western part of the country, the sector that, with its missile launchers within range of Israel, had most seriously threatened the security of the Jewish state.

In an early morning statement about the sites, Brig. Gen. Zeev Livneh declared: “We know that area has been under attack from the start of the American air attack, and we very much hope that the missile system . . . took a serious hit.”

Before the reports of the apparently successful U.S. attacks on Iraqi targets, Israel declared an emergency, and intelligence reports said the government in Jerusalem had an hour’s warning from Washington before the devastating strikes began.

An announcement broadcast on Israel Radio said: “Due to combat that started in the Persian Gulf, and as a precautionary measure, the citizens of Israel are asked to remain in their homes and open their protective (chemical warfare) kits.”

Over the weeks, Israel had privately requested high-priority U.S. strikes against the Iraqi missile sites to reduce potential damage to the country and to preclude the need for Israel’s having to retaliate--and thus possibly threaten to split the U.S.-led military coalition, which includes Arab forces.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir had warned Israelis to expect an attack from Iraq. The national emergency announcement instructed all Israelis not involved in vital functions to stay home and to carry their gas masks with them.

To avert possible violence, a total curfew on the 1.6 million Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip was in effect.

Many Palestinians have expressed support for Hussein during the months since the invasion of Kuwait. Hussein, in turn, has expressed sympathy for the Palestinians’ intifada , or uprising, against Israeli rule in the occupied lands, in which more than 1,000 have died over three years. In fact, the Iraqi leader had demanded that any negotiated solution to the occupation of Kuwait include the Palestinian issue.

Shamir also warned Palestinians in a radio broadcast Wednesday night that, in the event of war, Israel would crack down hard on any demonstrations by them on behalf of Iraq.

The announcements came as the streets of Israel’s cities were lightly populated with many citizens staying home or moving in with relatives outside urban areas, which could become targets of Iraqi missiles.

As the deadline for U.N.-authorized action against Iraq passed, at 7 a.m. local time Wednesday, virtually every Israeli household had one room sealed and equipped with gas masks for use as shelters in case of an Iraqi chemical attack.

Under the state of emergency, the Defense Ministry takes over the national economy to ensure that Israel’s 4,000 critical factories are staffed.

On the eve of war on Wednesday, Tel Aviv--with its glitzy streets nearly deserted and its radio airwaves full of nonstop talk of war--had lost its customary panache.

“This is like a ghost city compared to what it was,” Meir Elran, Tel Aviv’s deputy city manager, said from his City Hall office overlooking the turquoise sea. “This city prides itself on being very flamboyant, and all of a sudden, you see it’s in hiding. It’s sad.”

With most of the physical preparations for an Iraqi attack already completed, Elran said, the city is now focusing on its psychological defenses, and “mostly the problem is panic, possible panic.”

The city’s main thoroughfares, Ben Yehuda and Dizengoff streets, were so empty Wednesday afternoon that residents compared the atmosphere to Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday of repentance and the holiest day of the year.

“It looks like it’s after a holocaust,” Kochava Nazri, owner of the Shluck ice cream parlor on Dizengoff Street, said, gazing out of her spotless shop at the trickle of passersby. “It’s frightening, and it’s oppressive.

“If there’s going to be a war, then let there be a war,” she said. “And if not, then not, but now we’re just up in the air.”

Many people here have followed the government’s advice by selecting a special room in their homes to be a haven against dangerous gases, sealing it with plastic and stocking it with gas masks and other supplies. Having done so, Elran said, they now tend to want to stay inside and wait to see what happens next.

As part of the city’s escalating effort to keep people calm, it has added 17 new phone lines and quadrupled the number of operators at a special 24-hour information hot line that worried residents can call for information on how to prepare for attack.

In a chaotic, glass-walled room in City Hall, six operators drafted mainly from other government offices answered call after call Wednesday, while downstairs in the lobby, a woman gave patient lessons on gas mask use to a group of mainly elderly pupils.

Israel is used to preparing for war, Elran said, “But this is the first time that the rear is the front and the front is the rear.”

In the face of so ominous a threat, many Tel Aviv natives maintained enough bravado to spend Monday night partying, but by Tuesday night, stores were closing early and cafes and restaurants were largely empty.