Israel to build high-tech fence to stem Hebron-based terror
Defense minister says new barrier in southern West Bank will help prevent illegal crossings within a year; rules out massive military op to stop violence
Israel will construct a new hermtically sealed smart security fence between the West Bank city of Hebron and Israel proper within a year, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Wednesday.
Ya’alon, speaking at the Knesset, was responding to questions on Israel’s efforts to prevent terrorists from infiltrating Israel through the current incomplete barrier in the southern West Bank.
The terrorist who stabbed four people in Kiryat Gat on Saturday is believed to have entered the country through gaps in the frontier.
“We are aware of the problem with the fence,” Ya’alon said, according to Channel 2 news. “We intend to build a more massive fence similar to the fence on the Egyptian border. It’ll a take a little time but it will happen.”
Ya’alon said the new fence would include an array of surveillance equipment and would cost hundreds of millions of shekels, with funding coming from the recently approved defense budget.
Ya’alon also commented Wednesday on efforts to quash two months of Palestinian violence, with almost daily attacks in the West Bank, Jerusalem and elsewhere.
Speaking at the Israel Democracy Institute, the defense minister said there was a need to prevent escalation on both sides, and ruled out massive military action such as 2002’s Operation Defensive Shield — which saw the Israeli army deploy into the heart of West Bank towns to root out terrorists.
While he acknowledged the need for “deterrence,” he warned that “you don’t immediately go for all those proclamations and slogans that we’re hearing…’let’s go in, destroy, wipe out, Defensive Shield 2′ etcetera. These comments are irrelevant, irresponsible, and fail to address the issues at hand.”
He went on: “Everyone has their idea for a solution…statements that are baseless, made without thought or good judgement.”
The minister said Israel must find the Democratic balance between actions that would curb terrorism and the need to allow civilians on both sides to live out their lives in peace.
