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The half-built security barrier
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners November 26, 2004 |
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Israel should stop building its West Bank separation barrier if Palestinian terrorists halt attacks, Israel's president Moshe Katzav was quoted as saying Thursday, in the most high-profile criticism yet of the contentious project.
The separation barrier and the Gaza withdrawal are part of Sharon's so-called "unilateral disengagement" from the Palestinians. The barrier -- which runs mostly close to Israel, but also dips deeper into the West Bank in some areas -- would serve as a temporary frontier until a final peace deal is negotiated.
Sharon put together the plan at a time when Yasser Arafat was still alive. Sharon hoped it would allow Israel to seize the initiative, avoid dealing with Arafat and reduce international pressure on Israel to accept more far-reaching proposals.
Israeli President Moshe Katsav said in excerpts of an interview with the Maariv daily published Thursday that it would be in the interest of Israelis and Palestinians to halt construction of the separation barrier.
"If the Palestinians end terror, Israel must stop building the separation fence," said Katsav who holds a largely ceremonial position, but has some influence on public opinion. Katsav said the construction should be halted if the Palestinians agree to a truce that is observed over an extended period.
He explained that both sides have an interest in halting barrier work. "The fence costs us a lot of money, creates international pressure and difficult legal problems. It they stop the terror, we would have no need to build the barrier," he concluded.
Sharon's aides declined comment on Katsav's remarks.
More than 1,000 Israelis have been killed in suicide bombings and shootings in more than four years of fighting. More than 3,300 Palestinians have been killed in the same period, most in clashes with Israeli troops.
Israel says it needs the barrier, one-third of which has already been built, to keep out Palestinian attackers. The Palestinians have denounced it as a land grab, and note that the divider has disrupted thousands of lives. Earlier this year, the World Court in the Hague said in an advisory ruling the barrier must be torn down.
Court approves fence segment near capital
Israel's high court Wednesday approved a route for the fence that splits a Palestinian village to the east of Jerusalem.
The High Court of Justice rejected a petition made by residents of the Palestinian village of Tzur Baher, Ha'aretz reported. The Palestinians asked that the fence be rerouted further to the east so that it would not obstruct movement. However, another group of villagers opposed the alternative route proposed by the petitioners and claimed that rerouting the fence would harm them.
The high court's action left that section of the fence in the route proposed by the government.
The court still must rule on the routes of four other sections of the fence comprising what is called the "Jerusalem envelope."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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