Israelis Again Lining Up for Gas Masks

With some dread and a sense of deja vu, hundreds of residents of this town on the outskirts of Tel Aviv lined up in the rain Thursday to replace their old gas masks and get new ones for their children born after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Most of the men and women carting cardboard boxes--marked “Protective Mask”--in and out of the distribution center said they believe that the United States will launch a military strike against Iraq soon, and that Iraq will again strike at Israel.

“It looks like the situation is getting worse, and that’s why we’re all here in line holding our old boxes,” said Avi Sofer, 34, a real estate agent, who, like many Israelis, bobbed in and out of bomb shelters throughout the Gulf War. “I have a 5-month-old baby, and I’m getting a mask for him.”

Thirty-nine Iraqi Scud missiles fell on Israel during the Gulf War, most in the area around Tel Aviv. Residents here also have heard the warning from Richard Butler, the head of the U.N. weapons inspection program, that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein still has enough warheads to “blow away” Israel’s Mediterranean hub.

“We were in the eye of the storm, and it was a nightmare,” said Tova Zeevi, 61, a retired English teacher, recalling the Gulf War Scud explosions less than half a mile from her house. “The United States struck once already. They may strike again. I don’t know what their calculation will be. With ‘Monica-gate,’ Clinton wants to show he is strong,” said Zeevi, referring to the sexual allegations swirling around the American president that have made international headlines.

Israeli intelligence officials reportedly have told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his Cabinet that a U.S. strike against Iraq is by no means certain, and that, if one should occur, Iraq probably would not attack Israel in retaliation. If Iraq were to attack Israel, they say the chances are slim that it would be with nonconventional warheads--chemical or biological weapons.

“The prevalent opinion is that Iraq could not respond,” said a senior Israeli official. “They may have a few rockets hidden away but not the launchers. Or if they do have launchers, they’re not in the western part of Iraq, and so they can’t reach us.”

The Israeli government believes that Hussein would not use chemical or biological weapons against Israel because he knows the nation would counterattack this time. “What inhibited Israel then [in the Gulf War] was the Arab coalition against Iraq. That was a reason to prevent us from entering the fray. But now that there’s no active coalition, there is no such reason to keep Israel from retaliating. Iraq knows it. All this put together make the chances of such an attack on Israel almost nil,” the official said.

Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny M. Primakov said Thursday that it was possible a U.S. attack on Iraq could not be avoided.

Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai consulted by telephone in the evening with U.S. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen. Mordechai said that Israel is not a party to the intensifying U.S.-Iraqi dispute, though it reserves the right to defend itself if necessary. He has been urging the public to remain calm. “To the best of my judgment, the public should continue life as normal in all spheres,” he said.

Although thousands of Israelis telephoned the army or visited centers to replace their masks and injection kits for countering the effects of nerve gas, most seemed to be heeding his advice. The mood at the Ramat Gan center was glum but not panicked. There was a feeling of civic duty more than drama, a sense of having been through this drill too many times before.

Israelis’ frustrations were echoed in the daily newspaper Maariv by Nahman Shai, the army spokesman in the Gulf War who became known as “the national soother” for his calming updates several times a day. “I am tired of ‘Wolf! Wolf!’ cries. Every few months, we go through this, when there is a fear of war and then, nothing. This man Saddam is very clever, and perhaps his purpose is to pressure every once in a while in order to put us to sleep when there really will be something,” Shai said.

Many Israelis in line to get gas masks said they were making plans to leave the city if a strike seemed imminent, while residents of Jerusalem said their friends were calling “half serious, half joking” to reserve space if they needed to evacuate Tel Aviv.

“I think Saddam has serious weapons. He’s not letting the U.N. in, and seven years is a long time to develop something, even if he didn’t have it before,” said Irit Gontov, 34, an interior designer, in line at Ramat Gan. “You know, it is very hard when you must sit and be passive while they attack you. This time is different because I have a child now. I am thinking of leaving, of going to the Dead Sea. It will be safer there.”

Does she think the United States will attack Iraq? “I hope so,” Gontov said.

“You hope so?” said another woman in line. “If the Americans attack Iraq, Iraq will attack us.”

“So, that’s why we have the gas masks,” Gontov said. “This time they should finish the job 100%.” Yet another woman shook her head and said the Americans would be afraid to finish off Hussein.

“I think the reason they stopped last time is because he is the devil we know,” said Zeevi, the retired English teacher.

“Who could be worse than Saddam Hussein?” asked Jack Kattan, 65, a retiree. “At least then we wouldn’t be standing in line.”

At the back of the queue, Ifat Minzelevski, 25, a student, waited impatiently, saying she would not be getting a mask at all if her father weren’t so “hysterical.”

“Better to be hysterical now than to be surprised,” said her father, Zeev.