THE EUROPEAN – SECURITY AND DEFENCE UNION
Without active participation of the society in crisis prevention, there will be no efficiently
The Israeli approach to crisis and consequences management Interview with Abraham (Avi) Bachar, General (res.), CEO of Israteam, Tel Aviv
The European: General, you are a provider of security solutions to the Israeli government and you are international consultant. Mr Bachar: I would not say “security solutions”, just because we are not a security company. The European:And what then is the nature of your enterprise? Mr Bachar: In Israel there are about 250 security companies, but there is only one, our company, dealing with crisis management. So I prefer to say that I am an international consultant for “crisis and consequence management” The European: Do you make the distinction because you differentiate between the nature and/or the quality of crises? Mr Bachar: When we talk about the crisis management in terms of terrorist attacks, I am a provider of a segment on the security solutions. But if we are talking about crisis management in disasters such as earthquakes, in these cases I have nothing to do with security. The European: So you are a solution provides and aware of the great effort necessary to organize crisis prevention in the EU so as to make it an important global partner in providing humanitarian aid. What is here to learn from Israel? Mr Bachar: When I am teaching how to create crisis response plans, I say that the first thing to understand is the threat. The major difference with Europe is just the nature of the threat. The Israeli people are under threats from all directions − war, terror, earthquakes, pandemics etc. In my opinion, the European governments haven’t realized yet the threats from the Islamic fundamentalism. The European: And everything might happen at the same time. Mr Bachar: This should make us more aware and more prepared, otherwise we will not exist as a nation. When European societies understand that they have a threat, believe me, they would do what is necessary, but governments and the EU Institutions have to define and redefine that threat. The European: Without the participation of society, there will be no efficiency. But how do you prepare for all threats? Mr Bachar: When I start to work on preparedness of a country or organisation for a crisis, I always ask the decision makers to what extent they will be able to get public participation in the system they intend to build.
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Abraham (Avi) Bachar Abraham (Avi) Bachar, Brigadier General (res.) is the CEO of ISRATEAM 98 Ltd since 1998, after retiring from the Army where he held the position of the Chief of Staff, IDF Home Front Command from 1995 to 1998. Avi Bachar holds a MA in Public Policy (Tel-Aviv University) and in Political Science (Haifa University) and he is graduated of the National Security College. He was from 2007 to 2009 Chairman of the National Emergency Energy Organization.
The European: For what purpose? Mr Bachar: Because no nation in the world has enough resources nor has enough power to deal with a large-scale crisis. You have to have participation of the population just at the beginning, because designated units need time to understand the situation and to arrive at the scene. From our experience, we learned that the first minutes are the most important for saving lives!! The European: So you use the population to provide first assistance before specialists and respective units or elements arrive. How exactly do you employ the population? Mr Bachar: By making people know and understand the nature of the threats, training them for a first intervention, and giving them necessary equipment such as gas masks. So they will be able to give the very first aid to the casualties in the event and if necessary to get them out of the hot zone. The European: Let me take up the issue of CBRN, as you just mentioned gas masks. The Europeans have re-considered this field and are preparing against CBRN threats. Mr Bachar: Yes, I’ve heard about it. The European Parliament is rather active, which is somewhat understandable. Even if a direct military threat to Europe is missing, there are other threats such as terrorist attacks, which will remain active for some time. The European: Let us come to your practice. When you have developed a strategy for a customer and are going to implement it, how long will it take to field the necessary material and human resources? Mr Bachar: That is a difficult question to answer, but it usually
