Netanyahu Orders Personal Protection Kits for All Israelis

Netanyahu Orders Personal Protection Kits for All Israelis
Prime Minister Netanyahu has ordered personal protection kits, which include gas masks, for all Israelis.

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
ISRAEL (ANS) -- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently ordered the country's defense system to ensure that personal protection kits, which include gas masks, are distributed to all Israelis, Channel 10 News reported.
According to a story by Elad Benari of Israel National News (INN), Netanyahu's order comes in the wake of reports that chemical weapons have been used in the Syrian civil war and the recent escalation along Israel's northern border.
INN said according to the report, only about 42 percent of Israelis currently possess these kits due to their cost. Netanyahu wants to speed up the process.
The plan won't come cheaply. It will cost 1.3 billion shekels (about 350 million USD) to complete the distribution of the kits, and another 300 million shekels (just over $81 million USD) annually for their maintenance.
INN said the plan could be financed with an increase paid by to the National Insurance Institute, Israel's social security agency.
Another option being considered is asking Israelis to pay for the kits when they are handed out, INN said Channel 10 reported.
On Thursday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that despite media portrayal of a deal for advanced missiles to be purchased from Russia as a fu ture event, Syria has already begun acquiring the S-300 missile system from Moscow.

INN reported Assad said that shipments of the S-300 system were already underway, and that some had already arrived.
If Israel attempted to eliminate the missiles once they were in Syria, INN reported Assad said that Damascus would "immediately retaliate." He added that he would "not hesitate to arm groups that were working to liberate the Golan."
Speaking to Hizbullah's Al-Manar network, INN reported Assad said, "There is clear popular pressure to open a new front of resistance in the Golan. This is a political-ideological matter that will eventually turn into a military one."