The Ministry of Defense will pick the contractors to build the fence along sections of the 240-kilometer Egyptian border in a few weeks. Earthworks at several points along the border began a few days ago. Ministry sources estimate the cost of the work at NIS 1.35 billion.
Construction of the fence will go ahead at several points simultaneously, on the basis of the potential of infiltration into Israel from Sinai by labor migrants, refugees, terrorists, and drug smugglers.
When the work is completed, smart fences will exist along sections of the border, while other sections, where the topography makes a smart fence impossible, advanced observation and control mechanisms will be installed. The Ministry of Defense estimates the cost of the earthworks at tens of millions of shekels, which are part of the total budget for building the obstacle.
The earthworks will take a few months to complete. A few days ago, Minister of Defense Ehud Barak ordered the work to be accelerated to build a barrier to smugglers as soon as possible.
The Israel-Egyptian border is considered paradise for smugglers. The ease at which it can be crossed into Israel has worried Israeli defense officials for years, as terrorist groups have tried to exploit this ease to penetrate into Israel for attacks. These worries have increased because of the unceasing flow of labor migrants and refugees from Africa seeking refuge in Israel.
A Ministry of Defense official told "Globes" that the Israeli authorities consider the Egyptian border fence as a national priority project, and that building the barriers, which will be ready within months, will be just one component of a slew of tools to deal effectively with the flow of African labor migrants and refugees.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 29, 2010
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