We inquired the TAU Lowy International School on the war related safety measures and they responded

 A while ago, during those terrible days of the Iran-Israel conflict, some of us had very unpleasant experiences when it came to enter the shelters. 

"Unpleasant" is actually an euphemism, because  in reality, their lives were at risks. Back then, in the midst of the storm, we sent to the Lowy International School representative this email (LINK), a call for action and support given the confusing, scary, difficult times.

At first, we had the quick answer of Meshi (TAU Researcher coordinator)

 Dear Valentina & Bhavana,

Thanks for arising this important matter.

The issue is known and has already been addressed. If something like this happens in the future, please let us know immediately, including clear details (such as the relevant apartment number).

Wishing us quite days soon,

Best,

And now, a while later, we got the answer from Maureen, the director of the TAU Lowy International school, which we publish here for transparency and for informing all of you on how the story ended (so far)

Dear Valentina and members of the international PhD and Postdoc community,

I hope this message finds you safe and well.

First, thank you sincerely for reaching out and for raising this important issue. We truly appreciate your care for the broader community and your efforts to ensure everyone's safety.

After looking thoroughly into the matter, we would like to clarify the situation regarding the apartments in question. While these are indeed unique apartments typically designated for visiting faculty, we want to make it absolutely clear: they should be open to anyone during a siren.

We now understand that there might have been a lack of clarity in the initial communication to tenants of these apartments, and that this may have contributed to misunderstandings during moments of stress and urgency.

Please know that we are already taking steps to revise our procedures to ensure that, going forward, all tenants receive clear and explicit instructions about their responsibilities—especially in relation to emergency situations. We are also in discussion with the relevant parties at TAU and Broshim to help reinforce this messaging and improve clarity across the board.

Once again, thank you for bringing this concern to our attention. We’re committed to fostering a safe, supportive, and respectful environment for all our students and staff, and your feedback helps us do that more effectively.

Warm regards,

Maureen and the Lowy team

We feel like that our action here was very important to have open communication between the institution that is responsible for our welfare and wellbeing, and the community made of you guys, who expressed your opinions and helped us to formulate the email that ended up in a successful way.

We now hope and wait for the improvement of the situation in case (God forbid) of a future event. 

While Maureen did not address directly what happened and what one should do outside Broshim/Einstein, we suggest to talk to Meshi, who could give you more ad hoc answers for your case, and we encourage you to claim justice for yourself, by stating (and now we know even more that it is a right of yours) that BY LAW every shelter (no matter private or public) must be available to everyone, no matter what. And if you can, you can also report to the police the accident, as we got to know by several press reports on these accidents that happened all around the country, unfortunately.

Thanks again for your attention and support, keep it up and positive!