As the United States and a group of Western countries are considering the possibility of attacking Syria after Bashar al-Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons Israelis fear that escalated violence will spill over into retaliations against their country; in a panic groups of Israelis have gotten in fights at gas mask distribution centers, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In addition to handing out gas masks to worried citizens the Israeli army has called up a number of their reservists and deployed missile defense systems. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the he thinks that it is still unlikely that Israel will be attacked by Syria the country is apparently preparing for the worst, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
"I don't want to risk my family," Anton Borodko told the Christian Science Monitor as he picked up gas masks for his family. "If Assad understands that everything is over for him, he might want to slam the door and have some fun at the end."
Long lines for gas masks led to irate and nervous citizens getting into fist fights and in one instance in Jerusalem citizens stormed the postal workers handing out the masks to obtain them, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
"People lost their temper. They were grabbing at whatever gas masks they could find," Bryan Choritz, who was in Jerusalem, said. "If the Americans hit them, they'll hit us. If they can't reach the American homeland, they'll go for their allies in the region."
An additional reason that Israelis should be on the alert is because of a warning Iranian lawmakers issued on Tuesday, saying that if Syria is attacked by the United States and its allies "the flames of outrage" would attack Israel, according to the New York Times.
Iran is a staunch ally of al-Assad and has accused Israel of being the cause of the conflict that has enveloped Syria for the last two plus years.
"In case of a U.S. military strike against Syria, the flames of outrage of the region's revolutionaries will point toward the Zionist regime," Mansur Haqiqatpur, an influential member of Iran's parliament, said, according to the New York Times.
"The State of Israel is ready for any scenario," Netanyahu said. "We are not part of the civil war in Syria but if we identify any attempt whatsoever to harm us, we will respond and we will respond in strength."
