Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israel intends to build a security fence along the Jordanian border.
הקמנו גדר בגבולנו הדרומי (מצרים) ובלמנו את ההסתננות משם לישראל. עצרנו בכך למעלה ממיליון מסתננים מאפריקה, מה שהיה הורס את המדינה שלנו.
עכשיו נקים גדר בגבולנו המזרחי (ירדן) ונבטיח שלא תהיה הסתננות גם משם.
נשמור על הגבולות שלנו – נשמור על המדינה שלנו! pic.twitter.com/LmHdYWgXVk
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) September 3, 2023
Netanyahu made the announcement in a tweet on Sunday afternoon, noting that Israel erected a fence along the southern border with Egypt, and thereby prevented more than a million Africans from infiltrating into the country.
“Now we will build a fence on our eastern border (Jordan) and ensure that there will be no infiltration from there either,” Netanyahu wrote.
Not Just Migrants: Barrier to Block Arms Smuggling
The announcement came after a weekend in which dozens of Israeli police officers were wounded — including one who required surgery for a head wound — in clashes with Eritrean infiltrators living in south Tel Aviv who were rioting over support and opposition for the government in their home country.
“We will protect our borders – we will protect our country!” the prime minister declared.
The announcement also followed one a few days earlier that a few weeks earlier, the IDF had thwarted an attempt to smuggle Iranian-produced explosives from Jordan to Israel.
The IDF announced at the end of July that an “unusual” weapons smuggling attempt had been foiled in the Jordan Valley near Ashdot Yaakov. It is believed the explosives were to be delivered to Palestinian Authority terrorist organizations.
The Shin Bet has been tasked with investigating the incident, Israel’s KAN News public broadcaster reported.
Existing Barriers on Borders are Effective
In May 2018, the Israeli government announced the completion of a 34-kilometer (21-mile) border fence between southern Israel and Jordan intended to protect civilian aircraft landing at Ramon International Airport in Timna.
The current project would extend that barrier northward.
It took Israel three years to build its 245-kilometer (152-mile) barrier along the Egyptian border, at an estimated cost of NIS 1.6 billion ($450 million). The project, which began in 2010, included installation of network radar and cameras that send alerts to IDF units about suspicious movements along the border.
The Israeli-Egyptian barrier almost entirely stopped the mass infiltration of migrants from Africa into the country, in addition to serving as an added security measure preventing terrorist infiltration.
