A Fence in the Sand

THE Israelis are building a fence between themselves and the Palestinians on the West Bank. It is a last and almost desperate measure in the war they are currently fighting against terror. Trying out the gamut of possible approaches, they have offered concessions, they have coaxed and cajoled; and alternatively they have sent in the tanks and threatened yet more extreme retaliation, for instance exiling Yasser Arafat and closing down the Palestinian Authority. Thanks to operational intelligence of a high order, they identify and capture something like four in every five potential suicide bombers before they set out. But the one who gets through is deadly. In the past 18 months, some 70 bombings have killed 547 Israelis, which in proportional terms is the equivalent of about 26,000 Americans, or over eight times the number of victims of September 11. Several thousand more have been maimed, blinded, and wounded. According to the Israeli Finance Ministry, the period has seen the loss of 75,000 jobs and output worth $5 billion. The Israelis may not be losing to terror but they are not winning either.

The fence is designed to run for 225 miles more or less along the old Green Line demarcating Israel from the West Bank. This is not an international border, but simply the line thrown up by the armistice after the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. There will be watchtowers, trenches, patrol roads, electronic sensors, and the rest of it, gradually erected in the course of the coming twelve months in a local version of the Iron Curtain. Such a fence already surrounds the Gaza Strip, and it is effective. Israelis have been killed within Gaza, but to date no suicide bombers have managed to break out of that territory and attack Israel proper.

About the Author

David Pryce-Jones

David Pryce-Jones (1936–2025) was a British author and commentator and served as a senior editor of National Review.

Featured Tags

THE Israelis are building a fence between themselves and the Palestinians on the West Bank. It is a last and almost desperate measure in the war they are currently fighting against terror. Trying out the gamut of possible approaches, they have offered concessions, they have coaxed and cajoled; and alternatively they have sent in the tanks and threatened yet more extreme retaliation, for instance exiling Yasser Arafat and closing down the Palestinian Authority. Thanks to operational intelligence of a high order, they identify and capture something like four in every five potential suicide bombers before they set out. But the one who gets through is deadly. In the past 18 months, some 70 bombings have killed 547 Israelis, which in proportional terms is the equivalent of about 26,000 Americans, or over eight times the number of victims of September 11. Several thousand more have been maimed, blinded, and wounded. According to the Israeli Finance Ministry, the period has seen the loss of 75,000 jobs and output worth $5 billion. The Israelis may not be losing to terror but they are not winning either.

The fence is designed to run for 225 miles more or less along the old Green Line demarcating Israel from the West Bank. This is not an international border, but simply the line thrown up by the armistice after the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. There will be watchtowers, trenches, patrol roads, electronic sensors, and the rest of it, gradually erected in the course of the coming twelve months in a local version of the Iron Curtain. Such a fence already surrounds the Gaza Strip, and it is effective. Israelis have been killed within Gaza, but to date no suicide bombers have managed to break out of that territory and attack Israel proper.