The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced plans to build a fence around the country in order to protect it from “wild beasts.” During a tour of the Jordan-Israel border in the south, he unveiled the proposed project, stating that there was a need for Israel to deal with the problem of potential infiltration.
The project, according to Netanyahu, will be part of a “multi-year plan to surround Israel with security fences to protect ourselves in the current and projected Middle East.”
“In our neighbourhood, we need to protect ourselves from wild beasts,” he said.
The planned fence would also be aimed at tackling the issue of Hamas tunnels from Gaza, which remain a source of concern for Israel.
“At the end of the day as I see it, there will be a fence like this one surrounding Israel in its entirety. We will surround the entire state of Israel with a fence, a barrier,” he said. The project would be expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
However not everyone was impressed by his plans, with one of his cabinet ministers arguing that there should be no need for Israel to wrap itself in fences.
“The prime minister spoke today about how fences are needed. We are wrapping ourselves in fences. In Australia and New Jersey there is no need for fences,” education minister Naftali Bennett said.
