Netanyahu warns again Iranian nukes

JERUSALEM, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday warned threats on Israel's home front are small compared with the Iranian threat.

"All threats against the home front are small in comparison to another threat -- a different kind of threat in scope and strength compared to any other threat, and therefore Tehran must not be allowed nuclear weapons," Israel Radio quoted Netanyahu saying at the weekly cabinet meeting.

His statements came as the army's Home Front Command announced the start of a nationwide exercise in which mock text messages will be sent to citizens' mobile phones warning them of incoming missile attacks.

The army will conduct a nationwide testing of the "Personal Message" alert system sending messages in Hebrew, Arabic, English and Russian to the personal cell phones of citizens in different locations throughout the country, a statement released by the Israeli army said.

"This will improve our ability to issue warnings just to people who are inside a specific area that is going to be hit by missiles," an unnamed Home Front officer told The Jerusalem Post.

The army has been working on integrating the mobile phone alert system into its early-warning program but encountered resistance from some of the mobile phone companies that do not want to enable their phones to receive the warnings, which are sent out in the form of a text message, the Post said.

The exercise will culminate on Thursday, the army said.