Evacuation Patterns of Ethnic Groups Under Fire

Background: The north of Israel is inhabited by approximately one million people, of which 60% are Jews and 40% Non-Jews. During the 34-day Second Lebanon War (July 2006), approximately 4,000 rockets of various types were fired at the civilian population in the northern part of Israel. About 300,000 people decided to spontaneously evacuate the areas under attack. Objectives: The objective of this paper was to evaluate the differences between Jews and Non-Jews in their decision to evacuate from a threatened area and to identify the factors that influenced their decision. Method: We carried out a telephone survey one year after the end of the 2nd Lebanon war. A representative sample was constructed of civilians who had resided in the north prior to the start of the war and were over 18 years of age. Results: Significant differences were found between the Jews & Non-Jews in their evacuation behaviors and expose the main reasons for evacuating or not evacuating during the war. It exposes the two groups' future plans for considering evacuation in a similar situation. 50% of Jews evacuated and only 9% of non-Jews evacuated, and this discrepancy is a difference that makes our study a worthwhile one in order to identify the different factors involved. Conclusions: The government policy-makers in Israel had chosen not to issue orders for the evacuation of the northern population during the 2nd Lebanon war, yet over 300,000 individuals evacuated. The main reasons for deciding to evacuate during the 2nd Lebanon War differed between Jews and non-Jews. This study found differences in personal decisions to evacuate; differences which may have an important influence on the future behavior of the Israeli population and particularly of the Non-Jewish population. What appears from our study was that the expected rate of future evacuation on the Non-Jewish group was expected to more than double (9% in 2006 as compared to 29.1% who would evacuate in the future). If decision makers in Israel have the intention for the Non-Jewish population to evacuate in similar future events, it is necessary to reduce barriers so that evacuation will be more likely.