The Home Front Through Time

On the day that the State of Israel was established, David Ben Gurion coined the phrase, “The entire people is the army, the entire land is the front.” 43 years later, on the eve of the Gulf War (January 1991), it became more apparent than ever that the rear is also the front, and that it is an inseparable part of the fighting.

About a year later, after the war had been analyzed, the Home Front Command was established. It would be headed by the assistant to the then head of the Operations Branch at GHQ, Brigadier General Ze’ev Livneh who was promoted to the rank of Major General.

The beginning goes back to May 1948 when the familiar organization called HAGA (Hebrew acronym for Civil Defense) was established under the name “Disaster Defense Services.” The service was established after the intensive  Egyptian bombing of Tel Aviv which caused many casualties, both dead and wounded, and great damage to many buildings. Mordechai Nimtza-Bi was at the helm.

In 1951, the Knesset passed a law defining the legal status of HAGA. The law stated that the purpose of HAGA was “to take all the necessary steps to protect the populace in the event of any attack by hostile forces or to minimize the results of such an attack, the emphasis being on saving lives.”

Until 1967, no special efforts were put into preparing the home front. Home front units were not equipped or organized to deal with the possibility of war with damages to the rear. During the Six Day War, the Jewish part of Jerusalem was bombarded for a few hours, and the city of Netanya was bombed by a single Iraqi plane. Shells and bombs also hit Kfar Saba and the outskirts of Tel Aviv. These attacks brought about a change in the approach of organizing the home front.

Six years later, during the Yom Kippur War, it also became clear that it was necessary to instruct the populace on how to prepare and behave during emergencies. The State of Israel learned that, in certain situations, the regular rescue forces cannot reach the locale of the attack immediately, and therefore every individual and every home must be organized to be able to begin rescue efforts at once.

One may say that the organization of the home front relies on the civilians and their potential and that they are the resource upon which everything needed for rescue operations – people, equipment and vehicles – is drawn. Together with the civilian public and its institutions, the police and other security forces, the home front forces are activated in order to overcome any incident and to save lives to the extent possible. The aim is to establish a firm infrastructure of protection on behalf of the people at large, and, at the same time, to prepare a professional and mobile organization of rescue forces that will be able to arrive at the needed location quickly to save lives and minimize damage.

In addition to HAGA, units of HAG’MAR (Hebrew acronym of Regional Defense) were also active in the rear. The start of this branch of the military goes back to the establishment of the new agricultural settlements in the land of Israel and the establishment of forces to protect those settlements.

As harassment and terror attacks against Jewish settlements increased, the idea of regional protection took form. During the War of Independence, the forces to protect the settlements in effect became the main line of protection against infiltrations from Arab countries.

Until the Six Day War, the settlements were organized by blocs which were under the direct command of the Regional Protection and coordinated by the HAG’MAR officer. They would then be instructed vis-à-vis possible enemy breaches. After 1967, the concept of the blocs was discarded, and the areas were put under the command of regions or of divisions spread out in the various areas.

In the years following the Yom Kippur War, the I.D.F. decided to strengthen the HAG’MAR settlements, particularly those built along the lines of confrontation. Due to intensive efforts, the settlements became fortified sites with modernized weaponry allowing for rapid organization and deployment into battle. In the event of a surprise attack, the settlements would provide the main force blocking the attacking enemy on the front lines, thus defending the country. Someone put it like this: “The regional defensive settlements and their people are really the standing army for the purpose of defending the borders of the state.”

In August 1997, it was decided to unite the HAG’MAR division, which was under the command of the Operations Branch at GHQ, with the command of HAGA. This unification led to the creation of a headquarters of the Chief Command Officer for HAGA and HAG’MAR, Hebrew acronym MAK’HELAR. The Regional Defense (HAG’MAR) units operating within the framework of the Home Front Command, bear the responsibility of safeguarding the settlements in rural areas and of making sure the farms can continue their operations. The Home Front Command is responsible for the defense of the settlements through various means of protection such as fencing, circumferential lighting, patrol routes, and weapons caches.

In November 1988, the first national defense drills were held in educational institutions. Students throughout Israel were trained in going into shelters and putting on protection kits. Since then, such drills are held once a year in all schools in the country.

As noted, until the establishment of the Command, the responsibility for the home front fell to MAK’HELAR – the Headquarters of the Chief Command Officer for HAGA (Civil Defense) and HAG’MAR (Regional Defense).

On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait and annexed it.

After the sanctions imposed on Iraq by the coalition of western countries failed, the United States, on November 29, 1990, received the go-ahead from the Security Council of the United Nations to “use all necessary means” to cause Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, starting January 15, 1991.  At the same time, the Americans tried opening diplomatic channels with Iraq, with no success.

On January 16, as the ultimatum ran its course, Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi ruler, announced that Iraq would not give up Kuwait even at the cost of a war. The United States moved its forces into place both by sea and by land to prepare for the attack. War was inevitable.

The war lasted 42 days. The Americans worked intensively to destroy the Iraqi army and sites of strategic importance in terms of security, and were successful. The war ended with an Iraqi defeat and the withdrawal of its forces from Kuwait.

The Gulf War was a different type of war, a war in which the rear had to protect itself and in fact became the front. This was also a war in the media in which the falling of a shell or a bomb was broadcast live. This contributed to a change in international relations, and jumpstarted a concerted peace process.

Before the outbreak of hostilities, Iraq tried to draw Israel into becoming involved in the crisis. Such attempts included, for example, the Iraqi military spokesman announcing that the I.D.F., in disguise, had participated in the American taskforce, and the Iraqi threat of aggressive reprisals against Israel should the U.S.A. make a military move against Iraq or harm Iraq’s interests in Kuwait. The response of the Israeli government was that while Israel is an ally of the United States, Israel does not see itself as a partner in the crisis. Israel maintained a low profile from the day Iraq invaded Kuwait, and did not participate in the political contacts between Iraq and the U.S.A. Despite this “low profile” policy, the I.D.F., through HAGA, took a number of steps particularly in the field of the defense of the home front to thwart any attempt to harm Israel through both conventional and unconventional weapons.

In the course of the war, the I.D.F. took a number of steps regarding the home front:

1.       Handing out personal protection kits to all residents in Israel for protection against unconventional weapons.

2. Wide-ranging use of the media to disseminate information and directions on how to use he masks and how to behave during an alert.
3. Publicizing directions for preparing a sealed and secure room in every home and in public places, and instructions to avoid large gatherings.
4. Cooperation between medical and rescue organizations in the rear.

These actions together with insights from the war on the part of both the political and military echelons quickly led to the decision to establish the Home Front Command. The experience accrued over 42 days of tension clarified that only such a step would enable preparation, organization, and a high state of readiness for the State of Israel in three ways:

Legally: Before the Gulf War, the Home Front Command was comprised of three rear commands under the command of the regional commands (Northern, Central and Southern). The command responsibility fell to the Major-Generals of these commands. The Home Front Command, a professional and organizational establishment, had no authority or responsibility on the ground. This situation stood in contradiction to the Law of Civilian Defense of 1951 which gave autonomy and wide-ranging authority to the Home Front Command.

Operationally: Often, it is important to prepare the rear while fighting is happening on the front lines. In such cases, the Home Front Command frees the Major-Generals of the other commands (Northern, Central and Southern) of responsibility for the rear, and allows them to focus on operational needs of the front.

Organizationally: The establishment of the Home Front Command allows for greater efficiency in the existing units, and ensures better coordination with all civilian bodies and emergency organizations. As early as 1975, several committees investigated the subject of the organization that would deal with civilian defense, and recommended the establishment of the Home Front Command. The possibility of a threat towards the rear during a time of war on several fronts raised the awareness about the home front, and emphasized the need for a single body to concentrate all efforts on the home front during an emergency.