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Israel’s Security Barrier (Part Two)

Israel began building its security barrier in 2003, after more than 2 1/2 years of terrorism coming from the West Bank, including shooting at civilians from rooftops and suicide bombing. The barrier was built to stop these attacks and in large part has been successful in that. Recently there have been allegations coming from some American Christian clergy that the security barrier has not lessened suicide bombing. But is there any truth to this?

The security barrier was a response to terrorism and has substantially cut down on terrorist attacks coming from the West Bank.

• The first two years of the Second Intifada claimed many lives. In 2001, 207 Israelis were killed and in 2002 that number rose to 452. 2, 309 people were injured in 2002 -- many very seriously and for life. After the suicide attack at a Passover Seder in Netanya where 29 members of one family were killed (and 65 injured) the Israelis began Operation Defensive Shield, military operations that focused on destroying the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank.

• But the decisive factor in the decrease in the number of suicide attacks was the security barrier and the statistics show that. In 2002 there were 60 suicide attacks. In 2003 this number decreased by more than 50% to 26. The percentage increased as more and more of the barrier was built. In 2006 there were 4 suicide attacks, none in 2007, and in 2008 there were 3 attacks -- all perpetrated by Arabs residing in East Jerusalem that did not have to cross the barrier.

• It would be quite a coincidence if suicide bombing decreased in direct proportion to the construction of the barrier, but the barrier had nothing to do with that decrease.

Some people now claim that this cannot be true because the security barrier is only approximately 60% completed. But these people fail to acknowledge the following facts:

• The decrease in suicide bombing refers to attacks that took place in Israel proper -- not in Israeli settlements on the West Bank. The 40% of the barrier which is not yet built is mainly that part which would surround the Israeli settlements on the West Bank and has nothing to do with preventing terrorists from entering Israel.

• There is an unbroken barrier from Tirat Zvi (Tirat Zvi is east of Jenin and just west of the Jordan River and the Israel-Jordan border) to the southern entrance to Jerusalem, and from southern Gush Etzion to Metzudat Yehuda. Where there are gaps in the barrier, there are temporary obstacles such as roadblocks and a heavy presence of the Israeli army and border police.

95% of the Security Barrier consists of a highly sophisticated detection system.

• Although frequently depicted in the media as a wall, Israel’s security barrier is, for approximately 95% of its length, a multi-layered fence system. The security fence forms a strip approximately the width of a four-lane highway. At its center is the chain-link fence that supports an intrusion detection system. An anti-vehicle ditch is located on the West Bank side of the fence and a smooth dirt strip on the Israeli side for “intrusion tracking.”

• The combination of detection devices in the fence, along with dirt stretches on either side, works by slowing down a would-be terrorist by about 15 minutes and simultaneously alerting Israeli security forces.

Some people claim that the barrier cannot be responsible for decreasing suicide bombing because it is not complete in the region of the South Hebron Hills. This argument carries no weight.

• The barrier went up first in places where terrorists were crossing into highly populated areas of Israel to blow themselves up -- areas like Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Netanya. Approximately 75% of the suicide bombers who attacked targets inside Israel came from across the border where the first phase of the fence was built.

• The South Hebron Hills was extremely low priority for building the barrier from the Israeli security perspective because it leads directly into desert, not into a population center where suicide bombers would find their targets. The terrain is very difficult -- for miles there are rocks, hills and valleys. A potential terrorist would have to travel within Israel for miles and miles before finding a suitable target for a suicide bombing, during which time they would likely be picked up by Israeli security. Moreover, even though there is no security barrier in this region, it is constantly patrolled by the IDF and Israeli border police.

Oddly, some claim that Israel’s security barrier is so easy to by-pass, that it could not possibly account for a decrease in terrorist infiltration.

• If the barrier is so easy to by-pass, why so many complaints about the inconvenience and suffering it has caused? The truth is, it is virtually impossible to pass through undetected.

There is no question that Israel's security barrier was the primary force behind the lessening of suicide bombings coming from the West Bank and claims to the contrary cannot be taken seriously. We must, however, question people’s motives for making these allegations.