Netanyahu unveils plan to surround Israel with fence

Netanyahu called the border project a part of a “multi-year plan to surround Israel with security fences to protect ourselves in the current and projected Middle East”.

Menny Naftali, the former Prime Minister’s Residence manager, seen during a press conference in Tel Aviv, February 17, 2015.

The prime minister also made reference on his tour to another border security concern: terror tunnels.

As for the ongoing wave of violence, Netanyahu said it is not the Israeli occupation responsible for the wave of violence, as the Palestinians charge.

“Even as we grapple with a particularly challenging budget environment, this administration’s commitment to Israel’s security is such that we are prepared to sign an MOU [memorandum of understanding] with Israel that would constitute the largest single pledge of military assistance to any country in United States history”, the newspaper quoted the unnamed official as saying.

“That is not the situation in Gaza, or potentially in Judea and Samaria”, he said. Palestinians dub it an “apartheid wall” and an Israeli attempt to grab land Palestinians want for a future state.

“I advise any person who has been abused, no matter who he is or where he is employed, to stand up for his rights and claim what is due to him”, he told Israeli public radio.

As a result, he proposes separating Palestinian areas on the outskirts of Jerusalem from the city itself and completing construction of Israel s controversial separation barrier already walling off much of the occupied West Bank.

At least 10 Gazans have been killed in recent weeks by collapsing tunnels, most recently on Tuesday. At one funeral, Hamas deputy chief Ismail Haniyeh vowed to continue building its network of underground passages and fighting Israel “until the liberation of the holy places in Jerusalem”.

Differences between the two sides, which surfaced after a round of negotiations on a new defense memorandum of understanding (MOU) last week, underscored continuing tensions over last year’s U.S.-led nuclear deal with Iran, Israel’s regional arch-foe.