It's everyone's worst nightmare, a terrorist attack in a stadium during a high-profile football game. It was a reality in Paris in November 2015, leaving over 100 victims for a multiple attack by ISIS. Earlier this month, in the center of Israel, the first rescuers and military forces re-proposed the same situation. For a few hours, the Moshava stadium in Petah Tikva looked like a war zone.
"When you want to learn how to deal with these situations, you have to make this situation real. The world gives me ideas, "said the Dan district deputy commander at the Israeli Defense Forces Internal Command Unit (IDF), Ten. Cl. Yehonatan Raz.
The exercise was the result of a two-year international conference held by the Israeli military operational command and the country's health ministry.
35 countries attended the conference with the participation of 1.000 doctors, scientists and relief service members. Among the countries represented were China, the United States, Germany and Spain. Israeli forces spent two months preparing for the exercise. During the exercise, two helicopters were constantly in the air, one was police and the other a medical evacuation helicopter for the seriously injured who needed a quick departure from the scene.
One of the stadium stands collapsed, causing hundreds of victims. People trampled were transported by medical personnel to a nearby hospital whose staff was part of the important exercise. The sirens were explained around Petah Tikva, the city where the exercise took place. Residents were warned in advance so they knew that the increased sounds of emergency vehicles were not the result of a real crisis. The attack started during the football game saw the presence of men acting as terrorists who rushed to the field and started shooting at the players on the field of the stadium and the public. At the same time, there was also an exercise of an attack in a nearby market. It was almost an exact simulation of the Paris attacks, in which there were several scenes that required an immediate and coordinated response. "The most important thing for us here is to demonstrate the integration and synchronization of work among all these forces," said the ten. Sharon Itach, commander of the Kedem battalion at IDF's internal front command unit. "These are different bodies with different backgrounds but with a goal and a unique task", ten. Kedem told Xinhua. Coordination between units, which do not work together every day, is a critical element in responding to such attacks. Much of the exercise was conducted in English to allow viewers of foreign delegations to understand what was happening. Israel, which has a lot of experience with large-scale terrorist attacks, is often a model for agencies around the world. The overlap between military and civilian forces in Israel in such cases is more frequent than in other areas of the world. Military service in Israel is mandatory for men and women who reach the age of 18 years, which means that there are many soldiers in crowded areas at any given time. In recent years, there has been a decline in mass casualty events in Israel and an increase in attacks on individuals or small groups. However, forces maintain a high level or preparation for large-scale attacks. It was the fifth international conference on emergency preparedness and response (IPRED) held by the Israeli health ministry and the IDF. The main topics on the agenda were urban terrorism, protracted conflicts, chemical and biological warfare and the response to natural disasters.