Last update - 00:00 12/04/2007
Defense officials join forces with greens on border fence plan
By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
The Defense Ministry has begun planning the construction of a security fence on the Egyptian border near Eilat, in coordination with environmental groups. Green organizations fear that a fence would damage the environment and ruin the scenic landscape of the area.
The fence's planned construction, scheduled to begin in 2008, has been expedited due to the terror attack that took place in Eilat two months ago, in which three people died.
Senior defense officials toured alongside the planned fence route with representatives from the Israel Nature and Parks Protection Authority and the Society for Protection of Nature, a few days before the Passover holdiay. While the proposed route straddles the Egyptian border from Taba in the Sinai Penninsula to Yoash Mountain for 14 kilometers, defense officials clarified that the ministry has yet to allocate funds for the proposed plan.
In the past, IDF officials have suggested that the fence be constructed deeper into Israeli territory, adjacent to the Nehalim riverbed. Green representatives strongly opposed this, since it would block Israelis from hiking in some popular sites in the area. The IDF even suggested establishing a special crossing for hikers, but this suggestion was rejected by the environmentalists as well. The Defense Ministry opposed this plan as well, as it left some sovereign Israeli territories outside the border fence.
On the latest tour, defense officials said they intend to act in coordination with green bodies and that they would minimize the environmental damage caused.
In most cases, the greens also oppose newly built fences because they block off the migration of wild animals. Environmentalists, however, have stated that this is not a problem in the Eilat area since nearly all the wild animals have been killed by hunters.