Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=03/20/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= ISRAEL / IRAQ (S)

NUMBER=2-300956

BYLINE= SONJA PACE

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon received advance warning of the early morning strike against Baghdad, but Israeli officials say Israel plans to keep a low profile in a war that is not its own. Sonja Pace reports from Jerusalem.

TEXT: Senior officials here say Prime Minister Sharon received a 90-minute advance warning that the first strike was about to take place.

The official government spokesman on Iraq, Major-General Amos Gilad, said Israel has no active role to play. And, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told reporters Israel intends to keep a low profile in this war.

Most Israelis began their day normally, but many, including schoolchildren, also carried their gas masks just in case of an Iraqi retaliatory strike.

In the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq sent 39 Scuds missiles armed with conventional warheads toward Israel causing some damage and a few casualties.

This time around Israelis feared Saddam Hussein might try to strike Israel with chemical or biological weapons. Officials have said the risk of an Iraqi strike is minimal, but they have urged the population to take necessary precautions all the same.

NEB/SP/AWP