Security Fence Faces Another Two-Year Delay

Legal appeals to the High Court of Justice continue to delay the construction of the West Bank security fence, which now may not be finished until 2010, The Jerusalem Post has learned from the Defense Ministry.

That projection extends by two years the completion date of 2008 provided at the end of 2006. It also makes the barrier an eight-year project instead of the yearlong endeavor envisioned in 2002, when the cabinet approved the measure.

To date, only 56.9 percent, 450 kilometers, of the 790-km. structure has been completed, according to the ministry. Work is progressing on an additional 85 km., of which only 50 are expected to be completed by the end of 2007, leaving some 290 km. to be constructed in the next three years.

Included within the as-yet unbuilt 290 km, are some 255 km. in areas around Jerusalem, Ma'aleh Adumim, Gush Etzion, the area in the south leading to the Dead Sea and the finger that will encase the settlements of the Shomron.

In addition, there is an environmental dispute over the construction of the security barrier along some 31 km. in the southern Hebron Hills, according to the Defense Ministry.

A Defense Ministry report issued in January said that the High Court of Justice has heard 109 cases against the fence and there were an additional 39 cases pending.

But not everyone is satisfied with blaming the issue on the High Court of Justice. MK Danny Yatom (Labor), who heads the Knesset lobby group for the fence, and Marc Luria of the non-profit Public Committee for the Security Fence for Israel, said part of the problem was government apathy.