Israeli security chiefs have reassured the population that the chances of the country being hit during the US-led attack on Iraq were minimal and that every precaution had been put in place.
The Israeli cabinet met today to finalize contingency plans for the impending war. The meeting came after the army ordered the populace to prepare sealed rooms with plastic sheeting and duct tape to protect themselves against a possible Iraqi chemical attack, although officials insist the chances of such a strike are slim.
Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and intelligence, air force and civil defence officials updated ministers on contingency plans during the cabinet meeting.
Military intelligence chief Mr Aharon Zeevi said Iraq had not deployed any missile batteries capable of striking Israel from its western desert.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told ministers there was "little chance Israel will be attacked, but our preparations give us a 100 per cent answer to any dangers we may face".
Warplanes have already begun round-the-clock patrols of Israel's eastern borders, the direction from which any Iraqi missile strike would come if Baghdad retains the ability to repeat its 1991 Gulf war reprisals.
Police were placed on maximum alert, not just as a protection against Iraqi retaliation but also for fear of a spectacular attack by Palestinian militants sympathetic to Baghdad, the operations chief, Commissioner Duddi Cohen, told public radio.
Reinforcements were deployed along the border between Israel and the West Bank to prevent any infiltration, while patrols of public places, including the 46 centres set up to distribute gas masks, were stepped up.
The expected war is largely supported by Israelis, polls show, as Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has frequently called for the destruction of the Jewish state.
In 1981, Israel took a unilateral decision to attack a nuclear reactor Iraq was building in a spectacular long-distance air strike.
Few Israelis believe that Iraq, with its depleted arsenal and facing a massive US and British invasion force, will be able to launch an attack capable of penetrating its anti-missile defences. During the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel, causing the death of two people as well as damaging many buildings.
AFP