Completing the Security Barrier

The Problem

Gaps in the security barrier allow Palestinians to enter
Israel illegally on a daily basis, including terrorists.

The Solution

Complete the security barrier to maximize Israeli
security and preserve conditions for two states.

Background

The security barrier, initially erected in 2003 by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in response to the wave of suicide attacks during the Second Intifada, has proven to be an effective hindrance to terrorism. However, gaps remain in the barrier that leave Israeli citizens vulnerable to this day. Two gaps in particular – surrounding the Ma’ale Adumim and Gush Etzion blocs – should be closed. The completion of these gaps would accomplish three goals:

Enhance the security of Israeli citizens living in these communities and throughout Israel.
Limit the growth of these settlement blocs in ways that risk foreclosing the possibility of a future two-state solution
Create a de facto two-state reality on the ground, absent an agreement.

Closing these gaps should be done in a manner that maximizes Israel’s security and the future viability of a negotiated two-state solution.

Key Recommendations

Completing the security barrier should include an indefinite Israeli freeze of settlement construction in the West Bank east of the barrier and an Israeli preparedness to acknowledge that territories east of the barrier would constitute a future Palestinian state, pending a negotiated agreement.

NO ANNEXATION

There should be no formal annexation of any territory in the West Bank prior to a negotiated agreement.

NO EVACUATION OF SETTLERS

While legislation to compensate settlers outside of the completed barrier would be advisable, no settlers should be forcibly removed outside of the context of an agreement.

NOT A FINAL BORDER

The route of the barrier should not be considered to be a final border, which can only be determined through negotiations.

The Ma'ale Adumim Gap

Ma’ale Adumim is the third largest Israeli settlement in the West Bank with 40,000 residents. Almost all Israelis believe that it will be annexed to Israel as part of any future agreement with the Palestinians. This consensus view is why efforts to annex Ma’ale Adumim have begun to gain support on the right. There are two primary dangers with annexing the area:

REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONSEQUENCES

Any annexation of the West Bank absent a negotiated agreement could lead to immediate and long-term consequences both in the region and in the international community.

ELIMINATES PALESTINIAN CONTIGUITY

The area that currently constitutes the Ma’ale Adumim bloc to be annexed incorporates territories that would eliminate the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state.

The Gush Etzion Gap

The Gush Etzion gap is a distinct security threat to Israeli citizens. This is the region where three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped in 2014, and where terrorists from Hebron infiltrated Israel on their way to killing 4 Israelis in a shooting spree at a Tel Aviv restaurant in June of 2016.

Completing the barrier in this manner would increase the level of security for Gush Etzion residents, create territorial contiguity with the Jewish settlements of the bloc and Israel proper to the west, while also creating territorial contiguity between the Palestinian villages and the city of Bethlehem to the east.