Israel threatens retaliation if attacked by Iraq

By ERIC SILVER in Jerusalem

Israeli leaders warned Saddam Hussein yesterday that they reserved the right to retaliate if he attacked Israel in response to any American-led invasion of Iraq.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said his Government would "know how to defend our people" in case of attack. But he reiterated that Israel was not involved in the war and did not seek to be involved.

In the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles into Israel. Yitzhak Shamir, as hard-line a Prime Minister as Sharon, refrained from hitting back because Washington pressed him not to jeopardise Arab support for the US-led coalition.

Shaul Mofaz, the hawkish former general who is now Defence Minister, said Israel "reserves the right to retaliate", but would not hit back automatically.

"It will be only after an assessment," he told Time magazine.

Patriot anti-missile systems have been deployed in Israel.

Political and military leaders say the chances of an attack on Israel this time are "very, very low."

Nonetheless, they have prepared the public for the worst-case scenario. If the Scuds do not get through, they say, pro-Saddam Palestinian infiltrators may spread chemical or biological agents.

More than 90 per cent of Israelis have had their gas-masks updated.

The Army has advised people to buy plastic sheeting to seal one room in the house. Hardware merchants report steady sales but no panic.

Families are stocking up on bottled water and tinned food.

The streets of Jerusalem were swarming yesterday with tots and teens parading in fancy dress in advance of the Purim carnival.

They did not look worried, but doctors and psychologists are seeing a sharp increase in stress-related complaints as a war looms closer.

The Israel Trauma Centre for Victims of Terror and War, a voluntary counselling organisation, reported a four-fold increase in calls to its hotline last weekend. The hotline has moved out of Tel Aviv, which bore the brunt of the 1991 bombardment, to make sure it can operate round the clock.

Ofra Bondy, the hotline director, said many of the calls were from people who were in the firing line last time.

"The threat of another Gulf war is reviving old fears," she said. "We thought few people were injured but many are only just realising how much of a trauma it was."

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Herald Feature: Iraq