Border Control Better Late than Never

16/09/2009 - Akiva Eldar, Haaretz

A little over four years ago, when Kadima's Ze'ev Boim was Deputy Defense Minister in the Likud government, he launched a huge attack on Col.(Ret.) Shaul Arieli and his colleagues from the Council for Peace and Security.

These people, he said, make the saying "Those who destroy you will come from within," come true, he said.

Boim's ire stemmed from the fact that the members of the council had dared to propose to the High Court of Justice an alternative route for one of the sections of the separation fence. Their proposal was more economical and less invasive; it could be completed faster and was less harmful from a political point of view.

However, contrary to the route that had been planned in Boim's bureau, this one was not drawn up with the settlers' wishes in mind.

Last week, the justices of the High Court, headed by the Court President Dorit Beinisch, adopted the alternative proposed by these "destroyers" for the fence's route in the area of Tul Karm and Qalqilyah. The fence in this area was completed as far back as 2003. The court's ruling noted that events have shown that "from the start the fence was put up in a way that seriously harmed the rights of the local residents and their access to their agricultural lands ... This was caused by including large stretches of agricultural land in the seam area and was aimed at making it possible for the Tsofin North plan to go into effect as well as the extension of the settlement of Tsofin in the future."

The ruling ordered that 5,400 dunams trapped on the western (Israeli) side of the fence be returned to Palestinian villagers.

The key words, "from the start," appear in the ruling also with reference to the opinion submitted by the Council. Beinisch notes that the Council presented an alternative that was "significantly" different from the existing route and that after the state changed its position, "the route it is proposing today came closer to the route that was proposed from the start by the Council."

Justices Edmond Levy and Ayala Procaccia also agreed with Beinisch that the route proposed by Arieli and his colleagues provides a solution to the security needs of the state's citizens.

The court ruled that the state must pay NIS 20,000 in court costs to the villagers who had petitioned it. That is a paltry sum when compared with the cost to the taxpayer of what is hidden behind the words "from the start."

Had the senior political echelons opened their minds to Arieli instead of obeying the settlers, the state coffers could saved tens of millions of shekels on this section of the fence alone.

The mathematics are simple: Putting up a fence along 6.6 kilometers according to the Defense Ministry's route - NIS 80 million; dismantling the fence - NIS 8 million. When you add to that the hours of work spent by the state prosecution and the costs of rehabilitating the areas that were damaged by putting up the original fence and dismantling it, you get close to NIS 100 million.

Apropos "those who destroy" - every weekend the media report "violent incidents" between demonstrators against the fence and the army near the village of Bil'in. For some reason, no one bothers to mention the fact that the High Court of Justice ruled that those who planned the fence expropriated the villagers' lands in order to accommodate the expansion of neighboring Modi'in Ilit.

They also do not mention that it stated that the present route suffers from topographical inferiority and that this endangers the security forces.

It is now two years since the High Court ruled that this section of the fence must be dismantled and built along a less invasive and more secure route.

The Israel Defense Forces spokesman responded on July 22 that, "The IDF is ready for the change of route in the fence in that area, according to the High Court of Justice's ruling, and is now awaiting the criticisms that are expected to be presented on behalf of the villagers."

The criticisms were submitted a month earlier.