In 1999, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak's government opened a "safe passage route" between Gaza and Judea. Detailed security arrangements were worked out, with much fan-fare. These arrangements immediately proved to be ineffective.
Now, as his fortunes fade with elections but a week away, Barak has suggested he intends to repeat his mistake if elected. Here is
Barak's plan to connect Gaza to Judea by tunnel:
The tunnel would create territorial continuity allowing for the establishment of a Palestinian Authority-led Arab state in both Gaza and areas east of the 1949 armistice line, he explained.
In an elections conference held at Ben-Gurion University, Barak told students that a tunnel from the city of Beit Hanoun in Gaza to the town of Dura near Hevron would cost two or three billion dollars, an amount he termed "reasonable". The PA would be allowed to make free use of the tunnel, he said.
Based on past experience, this tunnel would be used for smuggling weapons and terrorists from one side to the other. Besides being a very bad idea, I can also think of a lot of better ways to spend "two or three billion dollars".
