Strategic Assessment

The 1991 Gulf War changed Israel's conception of the threat to its civilians from that of conventional to nonconventional weapons. No longer was the threat of a chemical or biological weapons attack dismissed as a remote possibility. Air raid shelters were no longer a priority. Instead, Israel, in accordance with its new doctrine, distributed personal protection kits against biological-chemical agents and ordered citizens to construct shelters in their apartments. Civil defense against nonconventional weapons became the focus of major government funding.