Israel approves $93 million to fortify security barrier

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Amid a new wave of Palestinian terrorism, the Israeli government on Sunday approved NIS 300 million (around $93 million) in funding to strengthen a 40-kilometer section of the West Bank security barrier, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports. The decision followed two recent terrorist attacks in which the Palestinian killers are believed to have entered Israel through a hole in the barrier near the town of Jenin.

The decision to allocate the funding was unanimous among the cabinet of high-level security ministers, TOI reports. In a statement following the decision, the Defense Ministry said: “The barrier will be comprised of concrete, protective equipment, and additional technological components. It will be up to 9 meters (29.5 feet) high and will replace the fence that was built about 20 years ago.”

Five people were killed in the Ultra-Orthodox Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak on March 29, when a 26-year old Palestinian from the West Bank of Ya’bad opened fire on them in a series of drive-by shootings The attacker is understood to have entered Israel through an opening intended for West Bank Palestinian farmers to access land on the other side of the barrier.

On April 7, a Palestinian gunman opened fire in the center of Tel Aviv, killing two people and wounding eight others.

Following the cabinet meeting in which the decision to upgrade the security barrier was made, PM Bennet tweeted: “We will fight terror with all the tools available to us and we will win,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted after the cabinet meeting.

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