After Lull, Kids in Southern Israel to Return to School

At least 1,000 police officers and volunteers will be on hand this week as classes begin at schools and daycare centers across southern Israel, Southern District Police Cmdr. Yossi Parienti announced Tuesday.

The news comes as the region holds its breath in the face of warnings that terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula across the border with Egypt are planning attacks similar to the coordinated strikes outside Eilat earlier this month that set off days of rocket attacks from the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. Before Parienti’s announcement, school administrators throughout the region were wavering on the decision to open their doors come Sept. 1.

“Classes will open this Thursday as scheduled,” the Chabad-Lubavitch run girls high school in Beersheba told parents by phone late Sunday afternoon.

“We weren’t quite sure whether we would open on time, given the security situation,” said one administrator, “but it was decided to start anyway. Things are thank G-d quiet.”

On the coast, Chabad-Lubavitch of Ashkelon director Rabbi Menachem Lieberman was confident that children would be fine both in his area and elsewhere.

“Learning Torah brings security,” he said firmly.

In addition, he said the school buildings were also set up for anything that might happen.

“Both the girls and the boys schools meet civil defense building standards,” he explained. “Each has a bomb shelter. We are also going to conduct safety drills with the students so they will be familiar with the routine in case they suddenly have to head to the shelters in an attack.”

Elsewhere in Ashkelon, officials expressed concern over some public schools. Ashkelon Coast Regional Council district chairman Yair Farjoin told reporters that the two largest school buildings in the area were fortified of late, but he pointed out that several other institutions and day care centers were not.