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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| IDF mulls charging citizens for emergency gas masks |
| 2008-10-19 |
| The Israel Defense Forces wants to charge for the emergency gas masks that have always been distributed to citizens free of charge. A draft proposal suggests charging every citizen NIS 200 every 20 years. Political sources said the cabinet is unlikely to approve such a measure. Some two years ago, the Defense Ministry started collecting the gas masks from people's homes. In April this year, the cabinet decided to redistribute the renovated masks and approve a NIS 220 million annual budget for new ones, as only 70 percent of the population has suitable masks. Over the past three years, the budget for gas masks has been NIS 150 million. Ten months after the cabinet's decision, the defense and finance ministries have still not reached an agreement on financing the project. Deputy defense minister MK Matan Vilnay, who is conducting the talks with the treasury, fears that in the absence of an agreement, the gas masks' redistribution will be delayed and will begin in the second half of 2009 at the earliest. IDF General Staff officers are convinced that the masks must be redistributed to the population due to the threats by terrorist groups and neighboring states. In the absence of financing, the Home Front suggested charging citizens for the project. The precedent for this was the reinforced room, which is required by law in new buildings, as one of the lessons of the first Gulf War in 1991. Home Front Command studies show that the gas mask must be replaced every 22 years, which means that in general, each person must pay about NIS 10 a year. However, the annual cost per family is higher, especially with small children who need a different mask every few years. Military sources say that in view of the fluctuations in the budget for gas masks, stemming from the changing perception of the threat to the population, there may be no escape but to charge citizens for the masks. The Home Front Command distributed questionnaires to citizens asking if they would be prepared to pay for gas masks and would be willing to pay more if the mask were delivered to their home, rather than sold in a shop or supermarket. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 especially with small children who need a different mask every few years. There's something just wrong here. |
| Posted by: .5MT 2008-10-19 09:53 |