Israel tested a Patriot missile defence system yesterday, amid growing signs of concern that the country could again get dragged into the conflict with Iraq. The US deployed Patriots here in the 1991 war, but they were ineffective in intercepting the 39 Scud missiles that President Saddam Hussein fired at Israel.Israeli army officials insisted that the training exercise with the Patriots, on a hillside at Arad in the south of the country, had been planned long in advance, and that it was pure coincidence that it took place yesterday. But those calming official comments appeared principally designed to placate an anxious public. An opinion poll published yesterday showed that 52 per cent of Israelis expect to come under Iraqi missile attack again if the Americans launch a military strike against Mr Saddam, and that almost the same number do not feel protected.Fuelling public fears have been tabloid stories that play down Iraq's much-reduced missile capabilities and play up the horrifying consequences of an attack involving such biological weapons as anthrax, "the silent killer - 100,000 times as devastating as chemical weapons".But behind the sensationalist headlines is a very real, government-led drive to prepare for a possible attack. Local pharmaceutical firms are working full speed to produce antidotes to anthrax and other biological weapons, and appropriate vaccinations and antibiotics are also being imported. The government has released emergency funding to finance the medical alert.Yesterday's poll found that 63 per cent of Israelis would want their military units to hit back at Iraq after an attack, even if to do so meant to defy the United States. While publicly endorsing Israel's right to defend itself, the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, has reportedly been privately urging the Israeli government to minimise its anti-Iraqi rhetoric and to stay out of the conflict if possible.The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, hinting at a readiness to strike back at Baghdad, said on Sunday night that "on matters that relate to our very survival it is Israel and Israel alone that makes the decisions."Mr Netanyahu is also using the crisis to justify his refusal to hand over further West Bank land to the Palestinians in the near future. The tension with Iraq, he noted dryly yesterday, "reminds us of the region we live in".Fortunately, he went on, Israel, though exposed to potential missile attack, was not vulnerable to a ground forces attack - a clear reference to the security threat he has argued would be involved in further Israeli withdrawals from occupied West Bank land.The Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, who sided with Iraq in the 1991 crisis, has despatched a minister to Baghdad to try to broker a diplomatic solution.David Horovitz is managing editor of the Jerusalem Report.AFP adds: Iraq's ambassador to the UN yesterday expressed reservations about proposals to more than double oil sales under an oil-for-food deal with Baghdad. The Iraqi ambassador, Mr Nizar Hamdoon, said he had only seen the report of the UN SecretaryGeneral, Mr Kofi Annan, on Sunday. But "my initial reaction is that we may have some reservations," he said.Mr Annan briefed the Security Council yesterday on his recommendations to increase the oil-for-food agreement from $2 billion every six months to a total of $5.2 billion. At present, the deal provides for Iraq to export $2 billion worth of oil every six months to pay for urgently needed food and medicine.Asked whether Iraq had the technical capacity to pump $5.2 billion worth of oil every six months at current prices, Mr Hamdoon noted that Iraq had pumped up to 1.3 million barrels per day.At yesterday's session, the US deputy permanent representative, Mr Peter Burleigh, reiterated US support for the increase.