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The army had been on full alert since just before the beginning of the invasion of Iraq for fear that President Saddam Hussein could fire Scud missiles at Israel in retaliation for the attack, as he did in the 1991 Gulf War.
Mofaz scrapped the alert for the civilian population, telling people to dismantle the plastic coverings used to seal rooms against a possible chemical attack and stop carrying their gas masks when they leave home, the defence ministry said in a statement.
He also ordered thousands of army reservists called up for duty during the war to be demobilised.
But the statement said that Arrow missile batteries, designed to shoot down any incoming Iraqi Scuds, would remain on alert.
Life in Israel effectively returned to normal a week after the outbreak of the war on March 20, with few people bothering to carry their gas masks.
The Labour opposition party has criticised the government for maintining the top level of alert for so long, saying that the expense incurred was not justified by the slim threat.
That criticism increased with the fall of Baghdad to US-led forces last week.
In the 1991 Gulf war Iraq fired 39 conventionally armed Scud missiles at Israel leaving two people dead and damaging thousands of homes.
SPACE.WIRE |