With fence, our kids would still be alive
Wouldn't that be worth high price tag? A response to Yaakov Hisdai
Our children, Yuval (13.5 years old) and Assaf (17) were amongst the victims of the explosion on the number 37 bus more than three years ago.
A fence is the most effective way to stop ground-based infiltrations. Period. There is no "concept" hiding behind it, and the implications of the fence are entirely security-related – not political.
In addition to stopping suicide murderers, the fence stops illegal aliens, as well as thieves looking for cars, farming equipment and other property. It is not intended to stop armies, tanks, airborne missiles or underground tunnels.
Several options
The fence is one possibility of several meant to lower a suicide bomber's chances of getting to the heart of Israel. Clearly, we need other methods as well – defensive and offensive alike.
But as an obstacle to a suicide bomber trying to cross the border on foot, the fence has proven its worth in recent years. The fence spared a school in the northern town of Yokneam from a double attack by adding 200 kilometers onto the terrorists' journey and made it possible for security forces to act on intelligence information and catch them.
At the present time, there is no substitute for the fence. This has been proven over and over on the ground in recent years.
Time and energy
Yaakov Hisdai writes that the "fence of deception has exploded in our faces" because of the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Note the amount of time it took the Palestinian cell to dig just one tunnel in the soft sand (much softer than the hard rock of the West Bank) in order to get past the Gaza fence – three months.
How much energy and effort, just for one tunnel – three months. That fact alone is testimony to the fence's success – to obstruct murderers. At the end of the day, the tunnelers got to the soldiers, but not to members of Kibbutz Kerem Shalom sleeping in their beds, God forbid. Our soldiers accomplished their task – they protected the citizens of this country.
One bus attack, one attack at the Dolphinarium and the Park Hotel, killed more civilians than all 8,000-or-so Qassam and mortar attacks on Gaza-area settlements.
A suicide murderer who manages to enter Israeli territory in an area with no fence to stop him, kills between five and 10 people in just one massacre. Usually, most of these are civilians – men, women and children. No one can stop a suicide bomber once he has set out to accomplish his deadly task, not even the Shin Bet. The only thing that can stop him is the fence.
Even the fact that suicide murderers travel from Samaria (where there is a fence) to Jerusalem (where the fence hasn't been completed) helps track them, since their intelligence "signature" rose as he moved.
Not 100 percent
Of course, we need intelligence and we need ways to prevent them, we need warning systems and we need deterrence. We also must develop offensive and defensive technologies against the tunnels and missiles, and there is a need for advanced border crossings in the West Bank to carefully check out those folks wishing to enter Israel. All these must be done in addition to the security fence, not instead of it.
True, a fence is not 100 percent hermetic. Nothing is. But should we refuse to take antibiotics because it doesn't protect against all types of germs?
Our children, and the lives of hundreds more, would have been saved if a security fence had existed back then.
The fence has saved, is saving, and will continue to save many lives. This is the only consideration that must be considered by the Israeli government.
Is all this, Mr. Hisdai, not worth all the cost and effort?
Yossi Mendelevitch (father of Yuval) and Yossi Tzur are bereaved parents
