PM sets summer 2012 as completion date for Egypt fence

JP: 

The fence along the 240 km border with Egypt will be completed by the summer of 2012, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on a tour of the area Tuesday, saying he also wants to see a similar physical barrier built along the border with Jordan.

Netanyahu helicoptered down to an area along the border, about an hour car drive north of Eilat, where he visited three and a half months ago. At that time work was just beginning on the barrier, while this time he looked out to see a five meter metal fence, covered with barbed wire, being erected along the border.

According to figures presented to Netanyahu, work on the barrier has already dramatically reduced the number of infiltrators, bringing the numbers down from some 1,200 infiltrators a month in 2010, to some 1,237 so far this year. Netanyahu said the barrier, which in addition to the physical component also includes electronic devices and beefed up IDF patrols, was necessary to stem the flood of infiltrators, and also to block the path of terrorist and criminal elements trying to get into the country through Sinai.

Netanyahu said there will be no problem with funding of the barrier, and that he told the IDF to build the fence, and “the money will be there.”

Netanyahu also said he told the IDF to begin preparations for building a similar barrier along the long border with Jordan. In private meetings, Netanyahu has said this was necessary since once the fence with Egypt was erected, the smugglers and infiltrators would look for alternate routes and naturally look to enter Israel from the east.

According to government figures, some 40 kilometers of the planned 230 kilometer fence has been completed.

This was Netanyahu’s third visit to look at the Egyptian border, and he said he now planned to visit every three and a half months to see the progress on the fence.