Work on the partition wall/fence has slowed to a crawl - and some coalition MKs are calling it a positive development.
In at least two articles in three days on the partition wall construction, the Jerusalem Post laments its slow pace, blanketly claiming that the partition "has contributed to a significant decrease in terrorist attacks." The Post reports that the Defense Ministry recently ordered three contractors to hold off on work in the South Hevron Hills, and that "not a single kilometer of the West Bank security fence has been completed in the past four months."
Dudi Barrel, who heads the Israel Infrastructure Contractor's Association - representing the above three contractors- is quoted by the paper as saying, "The fence has proved that it saves lives."
But, MK David Rotem, of the government coalition's Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party, says it's a "good thing that the fence is not being built." Rotem adds, "They should stop building altogether, and take apart the whole thing."
"To say that it saves lives is pure nonsense," Rotem says, "because terrorists can go around it or above it; witness the steep jump in Kassam attacks from Gaza, which has long been surrounded by a fence. Not only that, but when the terrorists are shooting at us from behind a wall, it makes it much harder for us to go in and stop them... A Jewish state need not have to hide behind a wall. We must rather deter our enemies with our strength, both external and internal."
MK Rotem says the current lull in terror attacks against Israel is "because of the diplomatic negotiations currently underway, and because of their knowledge that we will hit them back - and not because of the fence..."
Other factors credited with contributing to the drop in terrorism include increased targeted killings of leading terrorists and strong Israeli intelligence efforts.
"In addition," Rotem continued, "the fence is a way of determining our final borders - and it's not even being done via negotiations, but by the courts in many cases. This is unacceptable."
Shneller: 'Waste of Money'
MK Otniel Shneller of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party says that the wall is a misuse of public funds. Following his Knesset speech on the topic on Wednesday, he released the following summary of his remarks:
"Diverting budgetary allocations from various security projects to complete the fence will harm Israel's national security interests... There is no need to rush to finish the partition wall. If it is a security interest, the IDF needs the money for more important objectives, such as the Iranian and Syrian dangers and more. If the fence is a diplomatic interest, then we should wait for a diplomatic agreement that will determine the final route of the fence, without court intervention."
MK Shai Hermesh of Kadima, though a resident of the Kassam-battered western Negev, does not agree: "The fence must be finished immediately; nothing stands in the way of saving lives."
Sharoni: 'Forget the Kassams'
MK Moshe Sharoni (Pensioners) told Arutz-7, "The fence must be completed." Asked about the Kassams constantly fired from fence-enclosed Gaza, he said, "Forget about the Kassams; we'll solve that. The fence must be built, so that everyone will know where we are and where they are."
Some 40 Kassams and mortar shells have been fired at Israel over the past three days. Thus fare on Thursday morning, over a dozen have been launched. On Tuesday, a residential building was hit north of Gaza, and several people were treated for shock.
Leshem: 'Berlin Wall Was Effective, But Not This One'
Col. (res.) Moshe Leshem, of Gamla Shall Not Fall Again, says, "The best fence in the world was that which separated between eastern and western Berlin, with guards who had orders to fire on sight - and yet thousands of people crossed it. Here in Israel, the guards have no such orders, and infiltrators and terrorists can easily cut the fence - most of the partition is not made up of concrete walls - and, with the help of local Arabs, escape detection."
Leshem adds, "The partition is merely political, and is a dangerous illusion that has nothing to do with security... The fence demarcates the borders back to what they were before the 1967 Six Day War, more or less, with the help of the Supreme Court, which keeps moving it back closer to the 1967 border."
As of now, some 450 out of 800 kilometers or 57% of the total planned length of the wall has been completed. 800 million shekels have been spent on the wall just in the year 2007 alone - for the construction of only 48 kilometers, and the partial construction of another 80. The total cost for the full 800 kilometers could run to the phenomenal sum of over 10 billion shekels.