The Great Wall: Israel to Build Security Fence on Border With Jordan

Israel’s Security Cabinet has approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal to construct a security fence along the border with Jordan, the prime minister's office said in a statement Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Netanyahu announced plans to build a security fence along the border with Jordan a few years ago, but construction was delayed over the necessity to build a wall in the Golan Heights on the Syrian border to prevent overspill from the violent clashes in the country.

"The Security Cabinet yesterday adopted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal to begin work on an approximately 30-kilometer [18-mile] long section of security fence along the State of Israel's eastern border, from Eilat to the site designated for the Timna airport," the statement read.

Netanyahu was quoted in the statement as saying that construction of the fence was an important part of Israel's national security.

"It joins the fence that we built along the length of our border with Sinai [Egypt], which blocked the entry of illegal migrants into Israel and – of course – the various terrorist movements. This step also joins the fence that we built on our border on the Golan Heights," Netanyahu said.

The statement underscored that the construction of this section of the security fence would be carried out entirely on the Israeli side of the border and would not in anyway breach Jordan's sovereignty.