Though talk about Israel’s security fence has climaxed in the media, how many pundits and reporters have ever actually seen it? Several weeks ago more than 80 supporters of a strong and secure Jewish state went on a weeklong mission to Israel organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. I was part of a group from the Bay Area that had the opportunity to visit the “seam line” firsthand, meet with the Israelis who would be protected by it and talk to security experts who were unified in their view that the fence was the only concrete way to reduce incidents of terrorism.
That there is a desperate need for such a barrier was driven home to us at a stop in a small, planned community called Bat Hefer. The development is perhaps 10 miles from the Mediterranean Sea, near the base of the Judean Hills. This community is not terribly different from suburbs in the Bay Area. There are neat stucco homes with tile roofs, plastic children’s toys in front yards, cars parked on the streets.
The main visible difference between Bat Hefer and the Bay Area is a tall, gray security wall, some 30 yards from the development’s edge. Less than two miles to the east is the Arab city of Tulkarm. On the wall is an observation tower. From that spot a sniper was sighted in the field beyond the development just the day before our visit. He was shot and killed by an Israel Defense Forces infantry patrol. This was a vivid, if gruesome, reminder that Palestinian terrorists enjoy easy access to Israel. A playground can, and the day before our visit nearly did, become an instant killing field.
I was fortunate to encounter IDF soldiers on patrol, and I spoke to them about how the fence would protect Israeli citizens from terrorism. The commander of the unit told me that over the past 2-1/2 years, 124 suicide bombers successfully infiltrated from the West Bank. Yet in the same amount of time only three of the 55 attempted infiltrations occurred from the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Strip, of course, is already surrounded by a security fence. Our Israeli hosts noted that the fence is an effective alternative to what they currently have — which is effectively nothing more than the assurance of the Palestinians’ “new leadership” that it does not agree with terror as a useful tactic.
The hype over hudna (the current truce) notwithstanding, we have heard this so-called renunciation of violence before. Indeed, one need only recall Yasser Arafat’s disingenuous letter to Yitzhak Rabin at the outset of the 1993 Oslo process.
Even though the barrier is extremely expensive to construct, it has broad support in Israel. With each terrorist attack claiming on average six Israeli lives, Israelis understand that no cost is too great.
Of course, the Palestinian Authority is vehemently opposed to the fence. Arabs claim simultaneously that it amounts to the seizure of Palestinian lands by Israel in some areas, and causes inconvenience and economic hardship to Arabs. Israelis properly remind us, however, that the fence is a security barrier made necessary by Arab terrorism.
The barrier is not a border. The border will be determined in final-stage, bilateral negotiations. Israel and the Palestinian Arabs are nowhere near that stage, and, owing to the unwillingness of the Palestinians’ “new leadership” to break unequivocally with terror, talks are stalled at the outset of the “road map.”
Somewhat more perplexing is the not altogether consistent response of the Bush administration. It is ironic that there are some in our government who apparently find Israel’s construction of a barrier problematic. Yet I believe our government has also had to erect physical barriers along portions of the border with Mexico to stem the flow of illegal immigration of those who seek work and a higher standard of living.
Surely the government will not take issue with Jerusalem for taking concrete action to hold back the poisonous flow of terrorism from towns like Jenin, Tulkarm and Kalkilya. And yet we hear persistent rumors of reduction in U.S. loan guarantees to Israel if the barrier cuts into disputed territories. This is happening even as the “new leadership” in the Palestinian territories rakes in tens of millions of dollars in U.S. aid in the wake of Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas’ recent visit to the White House. This is no way to treat Israel, America’s truest friend in the Middle East.
President Bush understands that if the Palestinian Authority rooted out the terrorists, Israel would no longer need the fence. As Bush himself has noted, this requires that the Palestinians take and sustain concrete, determined steps to remove forever the leaders and weapons of terrorist groups. The current, temporary cease-fire is an altogether inadequate response from the Palestinians.
In the meanwhile, the barrier is the only thing that would stand as a constant impediment to those who would murder and maim the people of Israel.
Take my word for it: The wall is not a pretty sight. Along the seam line, it is a 26-foot high, almost 10-foot thick monument to the politics of the Arab’s Jewish hatred and rejectionism. Our group took a bus drive along the new Trans-Israel Highway where it runs between the Judean Hills and the eastern border of the coastal plain that is home to more than half of Israel’s population.
We drove by several Arab towns, including Tulkarm and Kalkilya. On our right were launching grounds for murderous activity. From Arab hilltop towns noted for being hotbeds of terrorism, one has a panoramic view of Israel’s most densely populated urban centers. At present, terrorists from the Arab centers in Judea-Samaria can easily walk to their targets.
We must remind our elected U.S. officials that Israel is entitled to a true peace, and not just empty promises and tactical deception. Until Abbas breaks sharply with Arafat, confronts all terrorists groups in the Palestinian territories, and permanently dismantles and disarms them, the fence will save Israeli lives, and thus become a critical element of defense. Every sovereign state has a responsibility and a right to defend its citizens. When the time comes, the pro-Israel community must be ready to act and defend Israel’s ongoing security needs.