© Shin Bet security serviceFrom left to right: Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet security services Director Ronen Bar at a special operations room overseeing a mission to release hostages in the Gaza Strip, June 8, 2024.
The bunker can sustain hits from a range of existing weaponry, has command and control capabilities, and is connected to the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, the report said.
The bunker, which is also known as the National Management Center, has not been used in the past 10 months of Israel's war in Gaza.
Comment: Well, since Israel is announcing this news, one would imagine that it's some kind of mistaken attempt to elicit sympathy for their plight.
It has, however, been prepared now as Israel braces for possible attacks from Iran and Hezbollah as tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate.
Iran, its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Islamist terror group Hamas blame Israel for a blast that killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
His assassination came just hours after a strike claimed by Israel killed Hezbollah's military chief, Fuad Shukr, on Tuesday evening near Beirut. Israel has claimed responsibility for killing Shukr but has not officially commented on Haniyeh, whose death Hamas, Iran and their allies have blamed on Israel.
Comment: Everybody knows it was Israel, that's why the US sent over reinforcements: US deploys 12 warships to Middle East as Israel escalates attacks in region
Note that Haniyeh was Hamas' peace negotiator. Also, Hamas isn't a terrorist group, according to international law it's a legitimate resistance group, against the occupying, genocidal state of Israel
Both Iran and Hezbollah have vowed revenge for the killings, which came amid already explosive tensions against the background of Israel's ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel that the Iran-backed terror group says are in support of Gaza.
As things stand, Home Front Command instructions to the Israeli public are unchanged, but if something changes, the IDF has stressed, the public will immediately be told.
The National Management Center was built in the Jerusalem Hills at the cost of billions of shekels following the end of the Second Lebanon War in 2006, although its exact location and depth are unknown, according to Ynet. It can hold hundreds of people and is intended for the government as well as other essential civil bodies.
According to Ynet, the National Management Center has not been deemed necessary in the war thus far. However, preparing it for use at this time may be an indication of the severity of the threat from Iran and Hezbollah, especially considering it was not used during Iran's attack on Israel in April when it launched over 300 missiles and drones at Israel, the vast majority of which were intercepted by Israel and its allies.
Comment: Some analysts have highlighted that the April response was discussed before hand, where the coming response may have more elements of surprise.
The US is scrambling to revive a regional coalition that succeeded in almost entirely thwarting the previous direct Iranian attack on Israel, reports said, while Israeli officials concede that this time around there may be damage and casualties.
The last time the bunker is known to have been used was in 2018 when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a series of high-level security cabinet meetings to be held there, likely to prevent leaks to the media.
Let them get their own medicine - tis only fair in the game of love and hate.
~
But - let it be known - better games beckon - just like Odessa does.
Odessa and the catacombs there - they have a story to tell - and the story involves Saint George....somebody whispered that in my ear - and you can't deny - it has a certain appeal for those of us know there are better games out there that don't entail war....so let the warmongers die in their own games - the rest of us have better ideas.
Simple - just like Saint George cutting the tail of the serpent once and for all - and don't let that serpent back into the cave - take it out for all to sense.