Israel warns it may fight back if Iraq attacks
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Your support makes all the difference.Israeli leaders warned Saddam Hussein yesterday that they reserved the right to retaliate if he attacked Israel in response to any American-led invasion of Iraq.
Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister, said his government would "know how to defend our people" in case of attack. He reiterated, though, that Israel was not involved in the war and did not seek to be involved.
In the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles into Israel. Yitzhak Shamir, as hard-line a Prime Minister as Mr Sharon, refrained from hitting back because Washington pressed him not to jeopardise Arab support for the coalition.
Shaul Mofaz, the hawkish ex-general who is now Mr Sharon's Defence Minister, said Israel "reserves the right to retaliate", but emphasised it would not hit back automatically. "It will be only after an assessment," he said in an interview with Time magazine.
The political and military leadership say the chances of an attack on Israel this time are "very, very low." None the less, they have prepared the public for the worst-case scenario. If the Scuds don't get through, pro-Saddam Palestinian infiltrators spreading chemical or biological agents might.
More than 90 per cent of Israelis have had their gas masks updated. The army has advised householders to buy plastic sheeting to seal a room. Hardware merchants report a steady sale but no panic. Families are stocking up with bottled water and tinned food.
The streets of Jerusalem were swarming yesterday with tots and teens parading in fancy dress in advance of the Purim carnival, which starts tonight. They didn't look worried, but doctors and psychologists are seeing a sharp rise in stress-related complaints as a war looms closer.
The Israel Trauma Centre for Victims of Terror and War, a voluntary counselling organisation, reported a four-fold increase in calls over the weekend to its hotline. The hotline has moved out of Tel Aviv, which bore the brunt of the 1991 bombardment, to make sure it can operate around the clock.
Ofra Bondy, the director, said many of the calls were from people who were in the firing line last time. "The threat of another Gulf war is reviving old fears," she said. "We thought few people were injured but many are only just realising how much of a trauma it was." Many callers are old people. They worry they won't be able to make it to shelters. Others are parents with small children. "They know what to do," Ms Bondy explained, "but they want to be reassured."
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