Infiltrators in Tel Aviv
Infiltrators in Tel AvivIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Only three people infiltrated into Israel through the southern border in the first ten days of October, according to official data communicated to journalists Wednesday.

The journalists were accompanying Interior Minister Eli Yishai on a tour of the Saharonim incarceration facility in the Negev.

In October of 2011, by comparison, a total of 1,309 people infiltrated through the border. This means the rate of infiltration has declined to less than 3% of what it was last year, largely thanks to the fence that has been erected along the border.

Yishai said his office wants the infiltrators to leave Israel voluntarily, in order to safeguard Israeli citizens' personal security and to maintain the Jewish majority.

By the end of the year, he estimated, the Saharonim facility will be able to hold about 10,000 infiltrators, pending necessary approvals from the Justice Ministry.