Israel, increasingly, is defined by the fences it builds. The nation has erected a enormous fence around the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. There's also a massive fence along much of the border separating Israel and the West Bank. There also are fences separating Israel from Lebanon and along the Golan Heights. Other fences soon will join the list. Israel announced Sunday that it will build two fences along its border with Egypt. Unlike the Gaza and West Bank barriers, however, the new fences are unlikely to raise much of an outcry in regional or international diplomatic circles.
Indeed, the fences, designed to slow the uninhibited flow of Muslim militants and undocumented asylum seekers into the Jewish state, have widespread support. Israelis who live in the southern part of the nation welcome it as another level of protection. Egyptian officials raised no objections, saying as long as the fence was on Israeli land it was none of their concern.
Fact is, Egyptian officials have long cooperated unofficially with Israelis on many matters concerning their mutual border and security, and no doubt approve of the fence. Additional barriers likely will make it easier for Egyptian officials to more effectively monitor the al-Qaida inspired militants, the lawless tribes and the smugglers populating the region. If that proves the case, benefits surely will accrue to both Egypt and Israel.
The new fences probably won't be electrified, but will have radar installations capable of detecting human movement, cost about $400 million and span about half of the 150-mile long Egypt-Israeli border. One section will be built near Eilat, a port city on the Red Sea. The other is in southwest Israel, near Rafeh, a community on the Gaza Strip. Additional security measures likely will added in the future.
The new fences are unlike most of those those elsewhere in Israel. The West Bank fence, specifically, has angered many fair-minded Israelis and large segments of the international community. That barrier cuts across Palestinian-owned land in some places, separating many Palestinians from their farms or their jobs in Israel. Its placement and strict rules that govern how, when and where individuals can cross the border give support to the argument that the fence is as much or more a political edifice than a barrier specifically designed to enhance security.
The fences to be built in the south clearly are more rooted in security rather than political concerns. Extremists tied to deadly attacks in the Sinai in 2004 and in Eilat in 2007 used the southern route to cross into Israel. Many if not most of the illegal aliens in Israel today used the same route to enter the country. The new barriers might help resolve those problems, but their usefulness of purpose should not be used to justify the existence of the more controversial fences to the north. The rationale supporting construction and maintenance of the West Bank and Gaza fences is far less firm.