The comptroller's report found numerous problems in the construction and operation of the separation fence around Jerusalem, which have reduced the fence's effectiveness and disrupted life for Palestinians on both sides.
The route of this 165-kilometer stretch was approved in December 2001. Six years later, only 30 percent had been built, but more than three-fourths of the original NIS 3.8 billion budget had been spent.
One source of delay was the 2006 Second Lebanon War, as a result of which NIS 500 million were taken from the fence's budget to replenish the army's inventory. Another was that responsibility for the project kept switching, from the Israel Defense Forces to the police to other agencies.
Today, several agencies are involved in manning the fence and checkpoints, causing massive confusion. Moreover, the checkpoints are severely understaffed.
The fence has seriously disrupted services in Jerusalem neighborhoods to its east, due to lack of coordination among the agencies involved and especially the Jerusalem municipality's dysfunctionality. And many residents of these neighborhoods still cannot cross the fence without hassles.
The IDF responded that 110 kilometers of fence have already been built, and another 50 will be finished by the end of this year. It blamed most of the delays on legal problems.
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