Liberman visits West Bank crossings, vows to make improvements
‘Everyone suffers equally here, Jews and Palestinians. This situation cannot continue,’ defense minister says
Dov Lieber is a former Times of Israel Arab affairs correspondent.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman vowed Sunday to streamline passage at West Bank crossings into Jerusalem, thereby easing the process for Palestinians who travel daily into the capital.
Liberman said in a statement that he visited the Hizme checkpoint at the entrance to northern Jerusalem in order to see for himself the difficulties facing those who use it.
The visit is part of a comprehensive inspection of the issues at the entrances and exits into Jerusalem, in particular in the north of the city, the statement said.
The defense minister was joined at Hizme by officials who have the power to effect changes at crossings, including Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat; Binyamin Regional Council Head Avi Roeh; the coordinator of government activities in the Palestinian territories, Maj Gen Yoav Mordechai; and officers from the Civil Administration and Border Crossings Authority.
Liberman, though he only visited the vehicular crossing at Hizme, also spoke about the nearby Qalandiya crossing, through which tens of thousands of Palestinians cross daily into Israel both on foot and by car.
“The problems at the Hizme and Qalandiya checkpoints, which plague residents of Jerusalem, the Binyamin Council, and Palestinians in the region, have clear solutions, both administrative and infrastructural,” he said.
“Everyone suffers equally here, Jews and Palestinians, and this situation cannot continue,” he added.
The dire conditions at the Qalandiya crossing have received a great deal of attention in Israeli media over the years, yet little has been done to assuage the situation.
The defense minister did not present any concrete plans for improving the checkpoints in his statement Sunday, only saying the solutions were both “administrative and infrastructural.”
One recent attempt to improve conditions was the opening of the vehicular crossing at a-Ram in early May in a bid to relieve congestion at Qalandiya, which is located a few hundred meters away. However, this only required the army to open a previously closed passageway.
It is possible Liberman is continuing a plan first put forward in mid-May by his predecessor Moshe Ya’alon, who in one of his last acts in office announced a two-year plan to upgrade the efficiency and security West Bank crossings.
Ya’alon said the program, expected to cost some NIS 300 million ($77 million), will decrease the waiting time at crossings by 30 to 50 percent and increase the amount of goods that can be transferred by approximately 30 percent.
“The plan is designed to increase the number of Palestinian workers who go through the checkpoints, as well as improving their conditions and standing up to the tests of quality and service,” Ya’alon said in a statement.
This plan would also “upgrade the technological level of the [security] measures found at the crossings,” he said.
The Times of Israel Community.