The Israeli government denied a report that a nuclear bunker is being built inside Ehud Olmert’s residence.
Yediot Achronot carried a front-page report Thursday that the prime minister’s official residence in Jerusalem was getting a new bunker to protect the chief executive in the event of a future non-conventional attack.
Olmert’s office was quick to issue a denial. A top aide, Raanan Dinur, told Israel Radio that the project under construction in the official residence is a “safe room” required by law in every dwelling, rather than a special bunker.
The Israeli government has been working on a tunnel network under Jerusalem to house senior staff during a nuclear war. The issue of such fortification touches a nerve, for many Israelis, given the state’s failure to provide comprehensive protection for Sderot, a southern town targeted by Palestinian rocket crews in Gaza.
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