Last update - 00:00 10/09/2006
High Court okays new fence route north of Jerusalem
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
The High Court of Justice approved on Sunday a new route for sections of the separation fence to be built north of Jerusalem.
The route of the northern section will run close to the villages of Bidu, Beit Lakiyah, Beit Surik and Beit Anan and the communities of Har Adar, Ma'aleh Hahamishah, Mevaseret Zion and Giv'at Ze'ev.
After rejecting routes planned for the area seven times, Justices Aharon Barak, Dorit Beinisch and Eliezer Rivlin ruled on Thursday that they would agree to the current plan.
The new plan was drawn up after another route was rejected two years ago for a fence in the Beit Sourik area.
The seven new parts of the fence run along some 1,200 dunams of Palestinian land.
"No one can contest the fact that (when planning) the revised route in the area, the government has only considered the security ramifications," Barak said.
The justice added that "we don't take the damages that come with building the fence lightly, even with the new route, but we have been convinced there is no route that could cause less damage and still fulfill its purpose from a security standpoint."
The judges rejected a request by the residents of Har Adar to move the fence away from their community and further into Palestinian territory.