While the merits of building a fence along the USA’s southern border are debated in Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his nation’s new border fence is working very well, thank you.
In comments spoken Sunday and reported in the Times of Israel, Netanyahu claimed Israel’s new security fence along the Israel-Egypt border has not only stemmed the tide of illegal immigration to Israel, but has also protected the Jewish state from terrorists operating in the Sinai Peninsula.
Every day that passes “underscores how correct and how important the decision was to build the fence in the south,” the prime minister said. “You must remember that this fence is equipped with very advanced means … to protect the State of Israel against the double threat of illegal migration and terrorism from Sinai.”
Netanyahu, speaking publicly ahead of his weekly cabinet meeting, argued the fence has blocked 99 percent of African migrants from reaching Israel.
“In practice, nobody has entered and the few who have arrived did not reach Israel’s cities,” he continued. “The fence has completely stopped illegal migration to Israel, but it also has an additional function – namely counterterrorism.”
The Times of Israel reports the border fence, which has taken years to construct and is still not finished, carries an estimated cost of $377 million. It was originally planned merely as a barrier to keep out migrants, but was upgraded to include motion sensors, cameras and heightened security after multiple border incidents in the wake of the 2011 Egyptian revolution, which resulted in a drastic decline in law and order in the Sinai.
In the U.S., meanwhile, lawmakers over the years have approved various southern border fence measures, but then revoked those same laws and then negotiated just how many miles worth of fence to actually build or not build – all leading to the current status of a piecemeal fence that simply funnels illegal immigrants from one border crossing to another and has left proponents on both sides of the fence debate dissatisfied.
A WND analysis of the recently passed Senate version of immigration reform reveals the new measures, even with amendments passed to beef up border security, will still leave loopholes for numerous gaps within the fence itself.
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