Landlines are back in style in the Start-Up Nation.
The security tensions with Iran and the advice of an Israeli mayor have led to a surge in orders for the old-school telephone setup over the last 10 days.
Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav stirred heads with his recommendation earlier this month that residents of the northern city install landline phones in their homes and stockpile medicine, food, water and other critical supplies.
Yahav spoke shortly before last weekend’s unprecedented Iranian attack on Israel, when the Islamic Republic and its proxies fired more than 300 missiles and explosive drones at the Jewish state.
In a week measured since the mayor spoke out, Haifa has seen a 364% increase over eight weeks earlier in requests for landlines—a nationwide high, according to figures released by the Bezeq telecommunications company.
Northern Israel has seen a 193% increase in demand for landlines, while nationwide the orders are up 168%.
Yahav pushed back on accusations that he was stirring panic in the country, saying he was simply trying to be prepared for any eventuality causing downed electricity lines.
An estimated 1.2 million Israeli households have landlines, the Communications Ministry said on Thursday.
A spokesperson for Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi declined to comment Thursday on the rise in demand for landlines.
The telephone company said that it was working to meet the demand.
“Since the beginning of the war, we are working with increased manpower to meet the increasing demand for communications services as well as to speedily repair damaged infrastructure,” Bezeq director general Nir David said in a statement. “We are also working on providing quick service to the ever-increasing demand for landlines in Israel.”
