The military correspondent of Galei Tzahal, Doron Kadosh, referred this morning (Tuesday) to the incident of the UAV explosion near a kindergarten in Nesher, and that by chance no disaster occurred after the kindergarten teacher showed resourcefulness and brought the children into the protected area.
"A mass slaughter of kindergarten children was prevented here, all thanks to one wise kindergarten teacher who saved lives with a heroic act. She deserves a special recognition. We could have been at the Majdal Shams 2 event this morning, or even something more severe and bloodier than that," Kadosh claimed.
He also added that "the residents of the north do not trust the Home Front Command's alerts, and sadly, one can say they are right. The alerts have often proven to be unreliable. I didn't understand it until I travelled to my parents' house in the north, and one night they woke me up in a panic to go to the bomb shelter."
I didn't hear any alarms and didn't understand why, and then they said there were alarms in a nearby settlement. "But we don't have sirens here, why are you getting scared?" I tried to explain to them in my naivety. And they answered – "So what, who believes the alarms." Only then did I understand how a person feels when they fear for their life and have already lost faith in the entire military system. My mom, by the way, is a kindergarten teacher. Maybe not by chance.
Kadosh argued that we should consider it as if the worst has already happened: "The Air Force will need to investigate this incident rigorously, as if 20 children were killed in it. After the UAV fell in the Golani Brigade base, there was a clear instruction from the Air Force commander – if we lose contact with the UAV – to continue activating expanding alarms, even if it turns out in the end that they were false alerts."
Why wasn't this instruction carried out this morning, and why didn't it trigger an alarm in Nesher? And what would they explain in the Air Force if this amazing kindergarten teacher hadn't acted resourcefully and had been injured along with all her kindergarten children?
Finally, he wrote that "the Home Front Command's guidelines in the northern settlements and the continuation of studies in many settlements where it is possible should be reconsidered." I say this with sorrow, because it is clear to me that children who have not been studying for a long time are languishing at home in front of Zoom at best, or in bed at worst. And yet, this is a matter of life and death, and it's not certain that the Home Front Command's guidelines are strict enough.
I can tell you that just yesterday afternoon, the Home Front Command intended to announce significant easing of the guidelines in the northern settlements. But after the heavy barrage on the Krayot – they quickly backtracked and left the instructions as they were until further notice.
And still, it's not certain that's enough. In many settlements in the Golan, in the central Galilee, in the lower Galilee, and in the Bay, there are no restrictions on studies, and there is no need for a protected space to reach during an alert. In my humble opinion, these are unreasonable guidelines.
