4,000 missiles, 72-hour outages: Northern Israeli mayor warns of 'blackout scenario'

Concern in Israel has risen regarding the "blackout scenario" – the scenario in which, during a war in the North, Hezbollah will manage to disrupt Israel's electricity supply for extended periods of time. 

Roy Levy, mayor of Nesher and deputy chairman of the Center for Local Government, discussed the issue with Lior Roznefeld on Radio North 104.5FM.

"I think the problem lies in the fact that everyone is throwing different information out there and not communicating with the citizens or telling them what is happening," Levy said. "Let me remind you, the story of the blackout scenario was also hidden from the local authorities until I brought it to the media.

"In all the scenarios we simulate, we're looking at about a minimum of 72 hours without electricity, and I tell people to prepare for more than that because whether there are 72 hours without electricity or 24, it is still better to be prepared when you don't have medications or an energy source to heat food for a baby and use basic and essential services. It doesn't matter if they restore power to the cellphone service if my phone's battery is dead," Levy said.

"We are hearing that we are facing a very dangerous threat of 4,000 missiles here in our area every day," he continued.

"We hear that if a power station is hit, it will be immediately fixed – But I can't imagine anyone going out to fix a power station in a scenario where we're dealing with 4,000 missiles a day. We need to prepare for at least 72 difficult hours, maybe even more, I say to prepare even for a week," Levy explained.

"I understand that by the end of the week [of this hypothetical war in the North] there will be no trace of Lebanon and they will beg for a ceasefire, but we here need to be strong and be part of the fight because the strong rear we give to the IDF will enable the military to win and remove the threat from the North," Levy concluded.