Walls and Fences in the 21st Century (Part 8 of 18)

[For an explanation of these 18 posts, see Part 1 published on 3/27/2019.]

Israel’s West Bank Security Barrier and More

Fast forward to modern times. Israel began constructing its West Bank Security Barrier in 2003. Before that, several Israeli prime ministers had discussed this idea for many years. In late 2015, this 430-mile planned fence-wall barrier was nearly complete. But it creates hardship on Palestinians living near it, especially those inside the Barrier. Some Palestinians call it “the apartheid wall.” Israel’s Supreme Court occasionally has ruled that Israel had to change the Barrier’s routing to mitigate Palestinian hardship. Actually, this Barrier consists of 90% fencing and only 10% concrete wall.

For several years, the UN opposed Israel building it West Bank Security Barrier. A 2005 UN report, entitled “The Humanitarian Impact of the West Bank Barrier on Palestinian Communities,” says “it is difficult to overstate the humanitarian impact of the Barrier. The route inside the West Bank severs communities, people’s access to services, livelihoods and religious and cultural amenities.” Statistics, however, reveal that this Barrier has accomplished what Israel said it would do—improve Israel’s security immensely. But the Barrier is also a detriment to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process because it enhances Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank.

Soon after Israel began constructing its West Bank Security Barrier, especially in the year 2006, several nations announced their own plans to build a border wall or fence.

In September, 2018, the Israel Defense Forces announced an eighty-mile-long, thirty-foot-high wall it was constructing on the Israel-Lebanon border. Constructed of concrete and topped with steel mesh, it was to be completed in two years. Three months later, IDF announced Operation Northern Shield. With the use of robots, it would destroy tunnels that Iran-backed Hezbollah had dug under the border into Israel for assault purposes. Israel was planning to erect steel fencing for areas with difficult topography.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently visited the U.S. To support U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, Netanyahu told President Trump and the American public that Israel’s West Bank Security Barrier has been “99% successful.”