Last update - 00:00 24/10/2007
Defense officials: Lack of funds could halt completion of separation fence
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
Vice Premier Haim Ramon is planning to ask Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for further funding to extend the West Bank separation barrier, Ramon's office said Tuesday. According to defense officials, construction of the barrier will be halted in the following weeks unless the Defense Ministry allocates further funds for the project.
Ramon, who is responsible for monitoring the barrier's progress, called the meeting after learning of financial problems that could prevent its completion. Some stretches of the barrier are fence, and at other points it is a wall. The barrier is already more than half completed.
Olmert appointed Ramon to oversee the project last year, when Ramon was justice minister. Ramon later had to resign after his indictment for forcibly kissing a female soldier, but Olmert reappointed him to handle the issue after he returned to the cabinet in January.
During Tuesday's meeting, defense officials told Ramon that the Defense Ministry had already earmarked its entire budget for 2008, and that none was left for the barrier's completion.
According to the officials, there is currently a stretch of 100 kilometers along which contractors are allowed by law to build, but are unable because the ministry cannot pay for the work.
Ramon said that he would approach the prime minister over the matter during the coming days, in order to procure other sources of funding. The vice premier said he will convene further discussions about the barrier and its related issues in the coming weeks.
Ramon plans for the next discussion to focus on solutions for the problems the barrier is causing for Palestinians living near it on both sides of the Green Line.
In 2004, the International Court of Justice at The Hague ruled that the barrier was illegal. The court's non-binding "advisory opinion" called for the barrier to be removed and the Arab residents to be compensated for any damage done. Israel rejected the ruling.
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