Inter-sector Cooperation in Emergency Preparedness: The Israeli Case

Abstract

Emergency preparedness process involves a wide range of stakeholders. Clearly, efficient coordination is necessary between them (Peek & Sutton, 2003), and the quality and extent of inter-organizational and inter-sector partnerships highly influence the level of emergency preparedness (Drabek, 2007). Enhancement of the inter-sector and inter-organizational cooperation throughout the emergency preparedness process on the local level was one of the main conclusions drawn after hurricanes Rita and Katrina (Simo & Bies, 2007). Importance of the cooperation between local authorities' emergency managers and various governmental and non-governmental stakeholders in the framework of preparedness for a war-caused disaster was highlighted also in the nationwide study in Israel (Altshuler, 2008). In Israel, periodic warfare is, unfortunately, a common source of disaster, which injures the civilian population, Jewish and Arab alike (Laor, Wiener, Spirman & Wolmer, 2005). A fairly recent reminder of this type of disaster is the Israel-Lebanon war in summer 2006 (Ben-Harush, 2007; Sharkansky, 2007); in addition are the successive flare-ups since 2000 in the southern regions of Israel on the Gaza border, indicating the possibility of full-scale warfare between Israel and Gaza, as indeed happened in the winter of 2008-2009 (Altshuler, 2011b). In such situations emergency preparedness for becomes extremely important. The current article will present a coherent, up-to-date and integrated picture regarding the inter-organizational and inter-sector cooperation in emergency preparedness for a war-caused disaster in Israel. It will be based on the recent scientific empirical findings that are first-of-its-kind in the country and a thorough analysis of the public policy trends.