By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
Jun 27, 2004
Israel may allow the world to pressure it into relinquishing its God-given patrimony, but the Jewish state will draw the line at being told it cannot build a security fence to fend off “Palestinian” homicide bombers.
President Moshe Katsav told Israel Radio Saturday that if the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague rules next month that Israel must stop building the “West Bank” security fence, Jerusalem will reject the decision.
“Most democratic countries would not suffer that kind of intervention from the court,” Katsav said, noting that the fence serves no other purpose than to “keep the Palestinians from killing us.”
The president reminded listeners that the fence would also ultimately benefit the Palestinian Arab population by reducing terrorism and leading to a “renewal of the diplomatic process, which would immediately improve the [their] condition.”
Unlawful court
From the start, Israel has rejected the ICJ’s authority to issue a ruling on whether or not it may build a security fence to defend Jewish civilians from “Palestinian” terrorist murderers.
The court commenced hearings on the legality of the barrier – which currently separates Israeli coastal communities from nearby “Palestinian” population centers – in February of this year, and is expected to make a final ruling next month.
‘We will build our fence’
Regardless of what the court decides, Israel will continue to do what is necessary to defend its people from the scourge of Muslim terrorism, Katsav declared Saturday.
If the justices in The Hague rule that Israel must halt construction of the fence, “we will have to reject it. There is no justification for that decision,” the president said.
Katsav worked to allay international concerns that Israel was attempting to prejudice the outcome of negotiations with the “Palestinians” by unilaterally setting a final border.
“It is a security fence, not a border. It has no political meaning. It is only for security purposes, it is intended to keep the Palestinians from killing us,” he explained.
Good for the Arabs
Katsav also pointed out that the fence would ultimately benefit the “Palestinians” as well.
“If we manager to cause a drastic reduction in the ability of terrorist organizations to attack us, it will bring about a renewal of the diplomatic process, which immediately improve the Palestinians’ condition,” he said.
Unemployment in the PA-controlled territories is at an all-time high, and the local economy is nearing total collapse as a result of the terrorist campaign being waged against Israel.
Initial success
Ha’aretz quoted Deputy Defense Minister Ze’ev Boim Sunday as saying that in the areas where the fence has already been constructed, successful terrorist attacks against Jews have ceased.
In the 10 months since the initial 120-mile stretch of fence went into operation, “it has gone from a situation of 600 terrorist operations and criminal activities a year, to zero,” he said.
The fence “saves lives, and creates quality of life,” Boim insisted.
But some defense experts have warned that the fence could end up hurting Israel’s ability to curb “Palestinian” terror.
The terrorist organizations are expected to continue developing long-range means of killing Jews – such as Kassam rockets and mortars – that would not be hindered by the presence of a fence.
At the same time, international pressure on the IDF to stay on its own side of the fence would likely result in fewer anti-terror military operations.