(JNS) Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on Israel and the multi-arena war that ensued, the Israeli home front faced waves of rocket, missile and drone attacks, totaling more than 27,000 projectiles, according to a report published in January by the Office of the Israeli State Comptroller, Matanyahu Englman.
While Israeli air defense systems successfully intercepted most of the threats heading towards populated areas, saving countless lives and billions of shekels in damages, the attacks still took a major toll. By the end of November 2024, at least 63 Israeli civilians and foreign nationals were killed by enemy projectile fire, with 43 of them killed by Hezbollah attacks and 20 from Gaza.
During Israel’s Rising Lion operation against Iran in June 2025, another 33 civilians were killed and 3,500 were injured by Iranian ballistic missile attacks, even though Israeli air defenses intercepted 86 percent of the incoming threats, according to Defense Ministry figures. This, the Comptroller’s report stated, stresses the importance of protection for the civilian population “even more so.”
A special audit by the State Comptroller revealed ongoing gaps in readiness. As of January 2025, approximately 3.2 million residents, or 33.6 percent of Israel’s population, lacked standard-compliant protection since they live in homes built before the 1991 legally-binding directive to build safe rooms in all new residential units.
The report also identified an acute shortage in the Bedouin communities in the Negev, noting that in these areas, no standard public shelters existed.
The audit exposed deficiencies in how local authorities manage shelter infrastructure, finding significant flaws in maintenance and oversight.
Some 860 million shekels ($278 million) out of a budget of 1.4 billion shekels ($452,370) were spent on implementing the Protecting the North program, the report said, referring to the initiative to build thousands of private rocket-proof safe rooms, and the reinforcement of schools, kindergartens, and public institutions in 56 northern communities. The government decision had called for three billion shekels to be spent by this period.
While the Home Front Command (HFC) was budgeted 1.4 billion shekels ($452,370) between 2019 and 2024, only about 52 percent of the allocated budget had been implemented by the end of 2024.
The audit also highlighted that the health system suffers from significant protection gaps, particularly in geriatric and psychiatric hospitals. The risk was illustrated when Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba sustained a direct hit during the Iranian attack.
The Ministry of Health estimates that nearly 5 billion shekels ($1.6 billion ) is needed to close these hospital protection gaps.
In response to the Comptroller’s findings, the IDF issued clarifications regarding the division of responsibility. The HFC stated that it continuously works to strengthen protective measures, but emphasized that responsibility for protection rests with the property owner. Responsibility for the maintenance of public shelters lies with the local authority under the Civil Defense Law, according to the military. The IDF Home Front Command has no statutory authority to deal with the maintenance of private shelters, it added.
Regarding hospitals, the IDF stated that the HFC, together with the Health Ministry, “formulated conclusions and drew conclusions during the war on protecting hospitals. Work was done to amend legislation and regulations on this issue. Responsibility for protecting properties belongs to their owners. As a result, the HFC is not responsible for protecting health institutions. Its role is to approve protection plans before they are implemented.”
Setting standards
“The Home Front Command is a regulator; it sets standards,” Professor Col. (res.) Gabi Siboni, a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and a former consultant to the IDF and other security organizations, told JNS on Tuesday.
Addressing the issue of older buildings without reinforced security rooms, He noted that companies now offer solutions to retrofit buildings with effective protection.
Siboni distinguished between threat types, noting that regarding Iran, “there is enough time to reach a public shelter for those who do not have a private safe room.”
Regarding hospitals, he argued that “it is hard to put all the hospitals under the ground. This is not logical.” Instead, protecting critical trauma and emergency surgery areas should be the priority, said Siboni.
He emphasized that state funding should be directed toward installing protected rooms in border communities.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense appointed on Jan. 29, Brig. Gen. (res.) Itzik Bar as the new head of the National Emergency Authority.
The National Emergency Authority, operating under the Defense Ministry, coordinates and manages the civilian home front during emergencies, working with government ministries, local authorities, security forces and essential service providers.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said at Bar’s swearing-in ceremony that two years of multi-front war proved “more than ever” the need for emergency readiness.
Bar, a former HFC chief of staff, stated, “We have no grace days. We must take the initiative with determination and modesty and be the compass and example for all government ministries in promoting national readiness.”
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