The roots of the "Home Front Command" go back to the "Civil Defense", which was established after Tel Aviv was bombed by Egyptian aircraft during the 1948 Palestine War. For 4 decades, Israel has not faced fundamental threats from abroad towards the interior.
The surprise occurred in the Second Gulf War, when Scud missiles launched from western Iraq began to fall on Tel Aviv and Haifa. Israel resorted to taking shelter with American Patriot batteries, and so many Tel Aviv residents left their homes. The Lebanon War in 2006 revealed fundamental gaps in the operational capabilities of the home front.