Will Syria, Hezbullah and Iran hold off their chemical attacks?

I have done a number of posts regarding Israel's ongoing lack of gas masks. Our gas mask situation is quite simple right now: We don't have any. Now the JPost is reporting that we're not likely to have any until late 2009 (at least). Will Syria, Hezbullah and Iran wait for us to get them before they attack?

Last year, the Defense Ministry finished collecting gas masks from the public and in the past few weeks completed refurbishing a majority of the kits. The initial plan, a senior defense official said Wednesday, was to return the masks to the public in January.

"Most of the masks are refurbished and they are sitting and waiting to be returned to the public," the official said. "We initially wanted to return the masks in January but the Treasury did not release the funds and we are still waiting for the budget to be able to hire a civilian company to distribute them."

The gas masks are an essential component of the public's "protective envelope" in the event of a chemical attack, according to the official. When in the hands of the public, the masks also play a role in deterring enemies from using such weapons.

"When an enemy knows that the number of casualties will not be so high since the public has masks it needs to think very hard whether it is in its best interest to use chemical weapons," the official said. [And when the enemy knows that the public doesn't have masks, it's an incentive to attack. Great, huh? CiJ]

Syria is believed to have a large stockpile of chemical and biological weapons. According to the Global Security Web site, the Syrian arsenal is comprised mostly of large amounts of the Sarin nerve agent and mustard gas and is reportedly producing and weaponizing the VX nerve agent. The US, the site says, has estimated that Syria has several hundred liters of chemical weapons, with hundreds of tons of agents produced annually.

The lack of responsibility on this issue being exhibited by the Israeli government is appalling. Unfortunately, it's the general public that's in danger of paying the price.

Cross-posted to Israel Matzav.