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| Netanyahu plans fence around Israel to protect it from 'wild beasts' | Netanyahu plans fence around Israel to protect it from 'wild beasts' |
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| Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has announced his intention to “surround all of Israel with a fence” to protect the country from infiltration by both Palestinians and the citizens of surrounding Arab states, whom he described as “wild beasts”. | Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has announced his intention to “surround all of Israel with a fence” to protect the country from infiltration by both Palestinians and the citizens of surrounding Arab states, whom he described as “wild beasts”. |
| Netanyahu unveiled the proposal during a tour of the Jordan border area in Israel’s south, adding that the project – which would cost billions of shekels – would also be aimed at solving the problem of Hamas infiltration tunnels from Gaza, a recent source of renewed concern. | Netanyahu unveiled the proposal during a tour of the Jordan border area in Israel’s south, adding that the project – which would cost billions of shekels – would also be aimed at solving the problem of Hamas infiltration tunnels from Gaza, a recent source of renewed concern. |
| Netanyahu called the border project a part of a “multi-year plan to surround Israel with security fences to protect ourselves in the current and projected Middle East”. | Netanyahu called the border project a part of a “multi-year plan to surround Israel with security fences to protect ourselves in the current and projected Middle East”. |
| Describing the need for new walls and fences on Tuesday, the prime minister said: “In our neighbourhood, we need to protect ourselves from wild beasts.” | |
| He added: “At the end of the day as I see it, there will be a fence like this one surrounding Israel in its entirety. We will surround the entire state of Israel with a fence, a barrier.” | He added: “At the end of the day as I see it, there will be a fence like this one surrounding Israel in its entirety. We will surround the entire state of Israel with a fence, a barrier.” |
| Netanyahu said the Israeli government was also examining ways of sealing gaps in the existing separation wall that runs along large areas of the occupied West Bank. | Netanyahu said the Israeli government was also examining ways of sealing gaps in the existing separation wall that runs along large areas of the occupied West Bank. |
| That separation wall – ordered to be built at great cost by former prime minister Ariel Sharon – was originally credited with a drop in violent attacks by Palestinians in Israel, not least suicide bombings, a key feature of the second intifada in the first few years of this century. | That separation wall – ordered to be built at great cost by former prime minister Ariel Sharon – was originally credited with a drop in violent attacks by Palestinians in Israel, not least suicide bombings, a key feature of the second intifada in the first few years of this century. |
| That judgment has been undermined by the apparent ease with which Palestinians assailants have managed to enter Israel in the current wave of violence since the beginning of last October. | That judgment has been undermined by the apparent ease with which Palestinians assailants have managed to enter Israel in the current wave of violence since the beginning of last October. |
| 2014’s war in Gaza also demonstrated how easy it was for Hamas to tunnel beneath the barriers surrounding the coastal enclave into Israel itself. | 2014’s war in Gaza also demonstrated how easy it was for Hamas to tunnel beneath the barriers surrounding the coastal enclave into Israel itself. |
| “If you’re thinking of erecting a fence there you have to take into account that they could tunnel underneath it,” Netanyahu said. “The people who said that there is no significance to [retaining] territory in the modern age should go to Gaza.” | “If you’re thinking of erecting a fence there you have to take into account that they could tunnel underneath it,” Netanyahu said. “The people who said that there is no significance to [retaining] territory in the modern age should go to Gaza.” |
| The proposal was, however, criticised by one of Netanyahu’s own cabinet ministers, education minister Naftali Bennett of the hard-right Jewish Home party, who has been embroiled in a series of recent disagreements over security policy with the prime minister. | The proposal was, however, criticised by one of Netanyahu’s own cabinet ministers, education minister Naftali Bennett of the hard-right Jewish Home party, who has been embroiled in a series of recent disagreements over security policy with the prime minister. |
| Commenting on the proposal Bennett said: “The prime minister spoke today about how fences are needed. We are wrapping ourselves in fences. In Australia and New Jersey there is no need for fences.” | Commenting on the proposal Bennett said: “The prime minister spoke today about how fences are needed. We are wrapping ourselves in fences. In Australia and New Jersey there is no need for fences.” |
| Netanyahu’s use of the phrase “wild beasts” – also translated as “predators” – recalled his use of equally incendiary language about Israeli Arabs on the eve of last year’s elections whom he described as “coming out in droves”. | Netanyahu’s use of the phrase “wild beasts” – also translated as “predators” – recalled his use of equally incendiary language about Israeli Arabs on the eve of last year’s elections whom he described as “coming out in droves”. |
| The prime minister made his comments as he visited a new section of approximately 18 miles of fence being built from the Red Sea city of Eilat to near where Israel is constructing a new international airport. That section of fence alone is costing $77m (£53m). In 2013 Israel also completed a five-metre-high fence along its border with Sinai. | The prime minister made his comments as he visited a new section of approximately 18 miles of fence being built from the Red Sea city of Eilat to near where Israel is constructing a new international airport. That section of fence alone is costing $77m (£53m). In 2013 Israel also completed a five-metre-high fence along its border with Sinai. |