Israel has begun building a new fence from Eilat to Timna, where a new international airport is being built to serve Eilat, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced at the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday.
Eilat’s current airport is located in what used to be the outskirts of the resort city but which now is practically in the center, making it a quaint curiosity but out of date in terms of the length of its runways as well as being a disturbance to tourists.
It also is prime real estate that will be freed once the new facility is completed to the north.
The fence is only the first step a project to better protect Israel’s eastern border from Eilat to the Golan Heights, Prime Minister Netanyahu said.
He added:
To the extent that it is possible, we will encompass Israel’s borders with a security fence and barriers that will allow us to control our borders. We will not allow Israel to be flooded with illegal migrants and terrorists.
Israel has finished constructing a fence along the southwestern border with Egypt, where tens of thousands of illegal immigrants previously crossed into Israel with ease. It created a major headache for the government and for cities where the immigrants located, such as Arad, Dimona and southern Tel Aviv.
The infiltration rate now is just about zero.
