JERUSALEM, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The government needs a plan to give gas masks to citizens, says the mayor of an Israeli town who charges a decision to end distribution is shortsighted.
Ze'ev Bielski, mayor of Ra'anana, said the previous method of distributing the protective masks lacked oversight, the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.
"I'd be in favor of Israel creating an inventory of gas masks, and setting up an enhanced ability to distribute them during emergencies," said Bielski, former chairman of the Knesset Home Front Preparedness Subcommittee.
Residents have been issued gas masks regardless of where they live, the mayor said. However, only 60 percent of Israelis have masks, which Bielski said was shortsighted and not an ideal situation.
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The distribution plan ended Thursday. Israel's security Cabinet said in January the program was no longer needed, citing a "significant decline" in the threat level after Syria agreed to eliminate its stockpile of chemical weapons.
Bielski called for a "supervised distribution plan" in which soldiers would be called up in an hour and make contact with local authorities. Gas masks would then be distributed to areas where they were needed.
"Gas masks can't be manufactured quickly, nor can millions of them be bought and sent to Israel in a few ships," he added. "We must make a strategic area to keep them available in areas that might need them, much like the Iron Dome [anti-missile] batteries that are moved around according to security needs."
Responding to Bielski's criticism, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office said no changes had been made since the Cabinet's decision.
