June 10, 2007:
Israel has had
a great deal of success in keeping
terrorists from getting in Israel from Gaza and Jordan. They have done this in
Gaza with a concrete wall, sensors, towers with video, night vision and thermal
imaging cameras. Anyone trying to cross is shot. While some of those killed are
just Palestinians trying to sneak into Israel for non-terrorist purposes, the
policy has resulted in only one suicide bomber getting through in over a
decade. Two groups of terrorists have gotten through, using tunnels or sheer
luck, but got no further because of Israeli troops guarding the fence.
A similar fence is on the
Jordanian border, with similar results. In addition, Jordan actively patrols
its side of the border, seeking any terrorists, or anyone, trying to cross
illegally. In addition, Israel has cleared most Palestinians from the immediate
vicinity of the security fence on its side of the border. The only terrorists
getting through, and there have been very few, are those who make it past the
official crossing sites. Again, Jordanian cooperation has made it very
difficult for terrorists to make it through the border controls.
The security systems on the
Gaza and Jordanian borders get little notice because they are successful, not
very exciting, and thus not news. A similar security fence on the border
between the West Bank and Israel made the news because the fence did not follow
the pre-1967 border. But the fence along the West Bank, where it was completed,
stopped terrorists from crossing.