Last update - 00:00 23/02/2008
Barak to hold consultations Sunday on proposed Egypt border fence
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent
Defense Minister Ehud Barak will hold consultations Sunday on a proposed fence along Israel's porous border with Egypt.
Defense Ministry Director-General Pinchas Buchris will present Barak with a plan formulated in recent weeks that calls for the construction of a fence along two sections of the border - a 14-kilometer-long section in the Eilat area, and a 70-kilometer section south of the Gaza Strip.
The plan calls for both sections to be a smart electronic fence, and would also include beefing up the Israel Defense Forces deployment in the area, the expansion of military bases and intelligence gathering.
Ministry sources said Barak believes the project could be completed within months of budgetary approval by the treasury.
Barak will also hold consultations Sunday on the issue of asylum seekers who enter Israel illegally through the Egypt border. In 2007, more than 5,000 people were able to sneak into Israel through the border, and more than 1,000 people have done so thus far in 2008.
The defense minister would like to renew an arrangement reached with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, according to which refugees and migrants captured in Israel a short time after entering the country would be returned to Egypt. The arrangement was put into effect only once, when in August 2007 Israel returned a group of Sudanese refugees to Egypt.
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