Panicked tourists are flying out, would-be tourists are cancelling visits, dozens of gas-mask distribution centres are opening, and the hot lines are buzzing between the Israeli Defence Ministry and the Pentagon. And yet, writes David Horovitz from Jerusalem, the word being energetically spread in Israel, by every official from the Prime Minister down, is that Israel is "extremely unlikely" to find itself directly affected by the Iraq flare-up.
Iraq fired more than three dozen Scud missiles at Israel in 1991, desperate to prompt an Israeli reaction that might have reoriented the conflict into an all-out Arab-Israel war. But Israel held its fire then, absorbed the Scuds without hitting back, and the overwhelming assessment this time is that Saddam Hussein has nothing to gain, and quite a lot to lose, if he targets Israel again.
For one thing, there would no constraints this time on an Israeli reaction. And as the Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, noted dryly yesterday, Israel has a fair amount of military power at its disposal. For another, any Iraqi non-conventional attack on Israel would underline that the UN inspectors still have plenty of work to do, and ensure wall-to-wall international support for strong military action, continued inspection and no lifting of sanctions.
Defence Ministry sources said last night that the United States had promised to alert Israel in advance to any military attack it might launch on Iraq.
An Irish diplomat here said last night that Irish citizens were not being advised to leave, because the risk of Israel being embroiled in any confrontation was deemed to be low.