Opinion & Comment
The Many Sides of the Security Fence

Based on the controversy over Israel's security fence between its Jewish population and the Palestinians, it is hard to imagine that as recently as six months ago it was the Great Idea of the Israeli Left. Originally proposed by the Barak government, it was adopted by the first Sharon government that included the Labor party. Even in the last election, it was one of the main policy planks of Sharon's opponent, Amram Mitzna. Now, Israeli prime minister Sharon -- with his well- known talent of getting things done -- is moving full-speed ahead with it, and everyone is complaining.

More than 150 kilometers are up, though not all are fully completed. This is about half of the length that is planned. This includes about 120 kilometers in the north from Jenin to a point past Qalqiliya, plus much of the 50 kilometer barrier around Yerushalayim. Most of the length has a concrete base with a five-meter-high structure of wire and mesh. There is also barbed wire and a four-meter ditch in many parts. Wherever practical there is a sand-covered area that shows footprints very easily. A small part is an eight-meter solid concrete wall.

The Right was always reluctant to build any barrier based on the fear that it might become the base position for drawing a political border between Israel and a Palestinian state. Though probably that consideration was an unspoken reason behind their desire to build such a fence, in public the advocates argued that it is just a security line and has no political meaning. The border of any Palestinian state could be drawn wherever it is eventually agreed, without reference to the fence. Moving it would probably be the cheapest part of any settlement.

The main argument for the fence is that it works to stop terror. Experience of several years with a fence around Gaza shows that. No homicidal bombers have come from Gaza, and no one thinks that the Gazans are any less suicidal than residents of Jenin. The dozens of such bombers that Israel has suffered over the past few years have all come across borders which, as long as they lack such a fence, are much more porous than Gaza.

It seems like a simple proposition: a fence will save lives. How can that be the subject of a serious controversy?

The answer is that the Sharon government is building the fence along a route that is certainly different than one a Leftist government would take. A prime example is the Palestinian city of Qalqiliya, located an easy half-hour walk from the outskirts of Kfar Saba.

Though it is entirely on the Palestinian side of the Green Line, Qalqiliya is surrounded by the fence, meaning that its eastern side, which is open only to territory east of the Green Line, is also fenced in. This is in order to prevent terrorists from leaving it in any direction, but the result is that the city is completely enclosed. Palestinians also maintain that the land that was confiscated amounts to a third of the farmland that belonged to the residents. It is sections like this one that are behind a good part of the criticism of the fence.

These are legitimate grievances and there are no doubt more. What is the solution?

The civilized world says that the answer to these problems is negotiations. The Israeli government argues that the Palestinians, even when they talk, believe fervently that ultimately they can get what they want through terror. Arafat's behavior provided proof for this since he launched the current three years of violence precisely when it was clear that negotiations had gone as far as they could go after Camp David.

In addition to saving lives by stopping terror, the government hopes that, perhaps for the first time, the fence will force the Palestinians to admit that they cannot get what they want through violence.

By physically preventing terror, the security fence will be a concrete reminder that there is no violence option. By encroaching beyond the Green Line, the fence will be irrefutable evidence that the violence of the past three years has caused the Palestinians to lose ground.

All this and a lot of siyata deShmaya could allow Sharon to really achieve the security that he promised.

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