Israel a good role model for Nevada

Saturday, June 24, 2006 | 7:52 a.m.

By Maureen Peckman

If there is anyplace in the world with a more "can-do" spirit than Nevada, it is the state of Israel. Here is a country, merely the size of New Jersey, which was carved out of the desert and that many parts of the world choose to hate and even hope to destroy.

Israel has gone to extraordinary lengths to energize innovation and build a burgeoning economy while creating an elaborate and sophisticated system of security measures to protect it. With the exception of the extensive security system, Nevada sounds very much like Israel.

Last month a delegation of 19 Nevadans, including myself, traveled to Israel for a mission sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League and the Nevada Commission on Homeland Security. The group included law enforcement representatives and members of the public and private sectors.

Grown out of a need to identify new sources of information and ideas to enhance security measures in our state, the Nevada Commission on Homeland Security partnered with the Las Vegas office of the ADL to expose Nevada representatives to how Israeli society executes the highest security measures within public and private sector venues.

Some of the Nevadans who made the trip included Steven Martinez, special agent in charge of the FBI in Las Vegas; Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Deputy Chief Mike McClary; Stan Smith, vice president of risk management for the Boyd Gaming Corp.; Sierra Pacific Resources CEO Walt Higgins; Richard Wimmer, deputy general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority; Jeff Fontaine, director of the Nevada Department of Transportation; and Dr. Dale Carrison, chairman of the Nevada Commission on Homeland Security.

Members of the delegation met their Israeli professional counterparts, receiving briefings from representatives of the Israeli National Police and Israeli Defense Forces on counterterrorism techniques and how they might apply to Nevada.

We all know the extraordinary danger that Israel faces from terrorism, a situation even better understood after a few briefings. Israel has experienced more than 1,000 deaths and thousands more injured in terrorist attacks between the years 2000 and 2005. Terrorism was and is still used as a tool intended to bring about the total destruction of the Israeli people.

Being the only country in the world that lives under the shadow of an ongoing and publicly declared threat against its very existence has forced its citizens to, against all odds, continually work to overcome this danger and lead lives as full and productive as any of us do in our own community today.

And this is the very mind-set that Nevadans would do well to emulate. Time and time again the Israelis persevere and overcome in the face of the cruelest and most heinous of attacks, only to plan and prepare with stronger preventive and response measures to protect their citizens, their way of life and their economy.

In a state of 6 million people, all citizens have learned to collaborate to prevent and mitigate incidents, something acquired through years of tragedy and destruction. What the U.S. can glean from Israel's anti-terrorism tactics is invaluable to the U.S. now that terrorism has touched our own soil. And may again.

The delegation visited Jerusalem's Malha Mall, a past target of terrorists, for an on-site look at security detection methods within a large public area. Additional tours included the Hadassah Hospital's trauma unit and the primary power station in Israel. Israeli security officials briefed the delegation on how Israel protects its vital national infrastructures from attacks and shared screening measures employed at Tel Aviv International Airport.

Compiling a list of detailed security initiatives to consider for Nevada was effortless. Understandably, the Israelis live in a different threat environment and have had to repeatedly adapt to the worst-case scenario.

What emerged as the greatest lesson for our group, however, was their resolve to defeat the terrorists, no matter the impending devastation of a threat or actual carnage from one carried out.

They simply never give up. They pool all resources, breed awareness among their citizens and have made a silent commitment to never give in. They will not allow the terrorists, no matter how destructive, to overcome their way of life. Or allow foreign governments, no matter how threatening, to alter their spirit and community values of productivity, personal fulfillment and happiness.

No Israeli official ever spoke of this. But it was this core conviction that became so evident as their driving force in every exchange of information. From this belief emerged the planning, training and knowledge that have sprung forth to create one of the most advanced security environments in the world. We, as Nevadans, must learn from this.

The delegation will meet again in Nevada in the coming week to see how we as an initial representative body of the community can address this opportunity for Nevada. We ask you to view "homeland security" as a local issue, just as we view public education and air quality.

Ultimately, like any issue needing a solution, the challenge is not just identifying the solution, but also having community stakeholders around the table who will allow the solution to come to fruition. Political, business and community leaders must step forward and partner with law enforcement to call on our citizens to engage, prepare and be aware.

It doesn't take a vivid imagination to visualize the devastation a terrorism incident would have on our people, our way of life and our economy. The ripple effect on regional and national industries that depend on the vibrancy of Nevada's economy would be staggering, impacting airlines, real estate development, retail, food and beverage, and many more.

We shouldn't wait for a terrorist incident in Nevada to be our own call to action. We know we are a target. Nevada has proved, in many ways like Israel, that we can accomplish the impossible. We've built a booming economy and a rich and diverse community in a desert valley.

Let's now, again, step ahead to the improbable - through planning, training, and a belief that we will protect ourselves - to prove we are compelled by our own convictions. Let us achieve significant security measures in Nevada without being compelled first by tragedy to do so.