Were they scared? After the earthquake that killed more than 20,000 people in Turkey and Syria, the National Security Headquarters held an initial discussion during which urgent needs were mapped out, and it was agreed to work on a plan for preparing for a strong earthquake in Israel.
According to a report by Yaron Avraham on Channel 12, the plan will be submitted for approval to the Ministerial Committee for Home Front Readiness, which will be established next week, and will then be submitted for government approval.
A senior government official told News 12: "We are feeling the devastating earthquake with our fingertips - and now is the time to act.".
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As part of the program, 3 billion shekels will be allocated to strengthen approximately 40,000 apartments in localities close to the hotspots most at risk: from Tiberias, through Beit She'an to Eilat.
There are 10 such cities in Israel.
The understanding is that this amount needs to be invested there as immediately as possible, even before the budget, to begin the work that has been neglected for a long time due to disputes between ministries and because recent governments have had less urgency in investing in the issue.
The discussion raised the need for the government to pass a multi-year five-year plan, worth tens of billions of shekels - with the estimated amount being 50 billion shekels.
This is to meet the requirements of the State Comptroller's report from July - and to strengthen approximately 610,000 apartments in approximately 80,000 buildings across the country, which were constructed before the appropriate earthquake-resistant building standard was established.
How exactly will this happen? Will it be through the local authorities? This whole story will be determined later.
Channel 12 noted that the powerful earthquake in Turkey is causing decision-makers in Israel to begin "speaking for the record," because the bells are ringing the loudest, and so far almost nothing has been done.
The government plan comes against the backdrop of the strong earthquake that occurred in Turkey, and the earthquakes that were felt here in Israel yesterday. Within a day, 3 earthquakes occurred: the first lasted about 3 seconds and had a magnitude of 3.5, centered about 15 km southeast of Ariel. The second, in the Jordan Valley area, had a magnitude of 3.3, and the last, a magnitude of 3.9 - originated in Lebanon. In all of these earthquakes, there were no casualties and no damage was reported.
