Shelters and alerts in Tel Aviv for Americans

In Tel Aviv, civil defense is a routine part of daily life, like knowing where the fire exits are back home, and the whole system rests on one habit: always know where your nearest protected space is.

The short version

Israel's Home Front Command (Pikud HaOref) runs the alert system and sets the rules. Its hotline is 104, and its website is oref.org.il [3][4].
In the Tel Aviv area, the guideline is about 90 seconds from the alert to reaching a protected space [4].
Best to worst: your apartment's mamad (reinforced room), a floor or building shelter, a public shelter, then an inner stairwell or inner room [4].
Stay in the protected space for 10 minutes after the alert unless you're told otherwise [4].
Enroll in STEP so the US Embassy can reach you, and save the embassy's emergency number: 02-630-4000 [1][2][5].

How alerts work

When the Home Front Command detects a threat, sirens sound in the affected alert areas and alerts go out to phones. Tel Aviv-Yafo is big enough to be split into several alert areas, so a siren in one part of the city doesn't always mean the whole city.

You'll get alerts three ways:

Outdoor sirens. A rising and falling tone. You'll know it when you hear it.
The Home Front Command app. The State Department's travel advisory recommends downloading it for real-time alerts; it works on devices within Israel [1]. Set it to your home, work and kids' school areas, and check its language settings.
TV, radio and social media. The city says emergency instructions are announced through the media [3].

A heads-up for new arrivals: if you're still using a US phone plan while roaming, don't assume alerts will reach you the way they reach phones on Israeli networks. Install the app, and switch to a local SIM or eSIM early.

The Home Front Command also runs scheduled nationwide drills. Treat them as practice runs: time how long it really takes you to get from your couch, your desk or your shower to the protected space.

Protected spaces, from best to worst

Home Front Command guidance, as published by Tel Aviv University for its students and staff, ranks your options like this [4]:

Option	Hebrew name	What it is	What to do
Apartment safe room	Mamad	A reinforced room inside your apartment, with a steel door and steel window	Go in, close the steel door and window, sit away from the window
Floor safe space	Mamak	A shared reinforced room on your floor	Same as a mamad
Building or public shelter	Miklat	A shelter in the basement or a nearby public shelter	Go down if you can reach it in time
Inner stairwell	—	The stairwell in the middle of the building	See the floor rules below
Inner room	—	The room with the fewest outside walls and windows	Close the door, sit on the floor against an inner wall

The mamad

Newer Tel Aviv buildings, generally those built since the 1990s, usually have a mamad in each apartment. It often doubles as a bedroom or home office, which is great until it's full of boxes. Keep the door clear, keep the window and its steel shutter easy to close, and know how to switch on the ventilation and filter unit if your room has one [4].

When you're apartment hunting, ask: "Is there a mamad? If not, where's the nearest shelter?" Older Bauhaus walk-ups in the White City are lovely, but many have no mamad. That's not a dealbreaker, but it changes your plan. Our renting guide covers the rest of the checklist.

The stairwell rule

In a building without a mamad or shelter, the inner stairwell is often your best option. Two floor rules apply [4]:

Top-floor residents: in a building of more than three floors, go down two floors; in a three-floor building, go down one floor.
Everyone else: stay in the stairwell, away from windows and the ground-floor entrance, and don't go outside.

Public shelters and parking garages

The city runs public shelters and designates some underground parking garages as protected spaces. The municipality publishes a bomb shelter map on its Security and Emergency page, and the city's 106 hotline can tell you which public shelters and parking garages near your home are protected spaces [3]. Look up the two closest to your home and your office the week you move in.

What to do when the siren sounds

The rules depend on where you are [4]:

At home or in a building: go to the protected space right away. Take your phone and, if it's next to you, a pair of shoes.
In a built-up area outdoors: get into the nearest building and follow its signs. Many lobbies are open for exactly this.
In the open with no building nearby: lie down on the ground and cover your head with your hands.
Driving: pull over, get out and head to the nearest building. If you can't reach one in time, lie down beside the road and cover your head. If even that isn't possible, stay in the car.
On a bus: the driver stops and opens the doors. Passengers crouch below window level and protect their heads.
On a train: the train slows to 30 km/h (about 19 miles per hour) for ten minutes. Get below window level [4].
After the alert: wait 10 minutes in the protected space unless the Home Front Command says otherwise. Afterward, stay away from any fragments or unknown objects and report them; don't touch them [4].

Ninety seconds is less time than it takes to find your keys on a bad morning. It helps to plan your route, keep the mamad door open and clear, and practice once with the kids so it feels like a fire drill, not a scramble.

Getting your home ready

The municipality and the Home Front Command ask residents to prepare a "family plan" [3]. In practice, that means:

A kit in the mamad: water, shelf-stable food, a flashlight, a battery or crank radio, phone chargers or a power bank, a basic first-aid kit and any daily medications.
Documents: copies of your US and Israeli passports and IDs, in the mamad or in the cloud.
A building plan: in older buildings, the shared shelter is the residents' responsibility, so ask the house committee (vaad bayit) who has the key and whether it's cleaned out [3].
Neighbors and relatives: explain the routine to kids and older family members, and agree on who helps whom [3].
Pets: a carrier or leash by the mamad door.

Think of it like hurricane prep in Florida, but for a much shorter warning time.

The American side: STEP, the embassy and travel advisories

STEP

The State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) is a free service that sends you email updates from the local US embassy, including alerts and travel advisories, and helps the embassy contact you in an emergency [5]. It's aimed at people traveling or living abroad, so sign up even if you've lived in Israel for years. Add your family members, and update your address when you move.

The US Embassy

The US Embassy in Jerusalem and its Branch Office in Tel Aviv both provide American Citizen Services [2]. Keep these numbers in your phone [6]:

US citizens with emergencies, including after hours: 02-630-4000 (+972-2-630-4000 from a foreign phone)
State Department, 24/7: +1-202-501-4444 from abroad, or +1-888-407-4747 from the US and Canada

Routine services like passport renewals and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad are by appointment only, and walk-ins aren't allowed [2]. The embassy also posts security alerts on its website, and STEP sends them to your inbox [5][6].

The travel advisory

When we checked the State Department's Israel, the West Bank and Gaza travel advisory on November 6, 2026, it listed Israel at Level 3, "Reconsider Travel," due to terrorism and civil unrest, in the version updated October 23, 2026, the West Bank as "Reconsider Travel," and Gaza as "Do Not Travel" [1]. Advisories change, so read the current version before any trip. The same advisory tells you to learn the location of the nearest shelter, download the Home Front Command app and enroll in STEP [1].

Useful numbers

Who	Number
Home Front Command hotline	104 [3]
Tel Aviv-Yafo municipal hotline	106 [3]
US Embassy emergencies	02-630-4000 [6]
State Department from abroad	+1-202-501-4444 [6]

For first-hand tips on finding buildings with a good mamad, ask in our community group for Americans in Israel.

Shelters and alerts in Tel Aviv: the mamad, the app and your 90 seconds