Sugarcane
ELITE MEMBER
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Israel is to build a 43-mile security fence along the armistice line of the occupied Golan Heights to prevent incursions by Islamist militants currently fighting against President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced the move four days after another barrier, aimed at keeping out illegal migrants from Africa, was completed along Israel's frontier with Egypt.
"We intend to stretch an identical fence, with some necessary changes due to the different conditions, along the Golan Heights," he told the weekly Israeli cabinet meeting.
"We know that on the other side of our border with Syria today, the Syrian army has backed off, and global jihad operatives have taken its place," Mr Netanyahu said.
"We must therefore protect this border from infiltrations and terror, as we have successfully been doing along the Sinai border."
Calling Mr Assad's regime "very unstable", he reiterated Israeli fears over Syria's chemical weapons arsenal falling into the hands of Islamist groups.
"The question of chemical weapons here worries us and we are coordinating our intelligence and readiness with the US and others so that we might be prepared for any scenario and possibility that could arise," he said.
Last month, Mr Netanyahu said Israel was making preparations for the collapse of Mr Assad's regime, which he predicted was imminent.
Building a barrier in the Golan Heights would consolidate Israel's hold on territory it seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in 1981 in a move that has never been internationally recognised.
Successive rounds of negotiations over a possible peace deal that would lead to Israeli withdrawal have led nowhere. In 2009, Mr Netanyahu said returning the territory, which contains several Arab towns as well as Israeli settlements, would turn it into "Iran's front lines which will threaten the whole state of Israel".
Israel to build 43-mile security fence in Golan Heights - Telegraph
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced the move four days after another barrier, aimed at keeping out illegal migrants from Africa, was completed along Israel's frontier with Egypt.
"We intend to stretch an identical fence, with some necessary changes due to the different conditions, along the Golan Heights," he told the weekly Israeli cabinet meeting.
"We know that on the other side of our border with Syria today, the Syrian army has backed off, and global jihad operatives have taken its place," Mr Netanyahu said.
"We must therefore protect this border from infiltrations and terror, as we have successfully been doing along the Sinai border."
Calling Mr Assad's regime "very unstable", he reiterated Israeli fears over Syria's chemical weapons arsenal falling into the hands of Islamist groups.
"The question of chemical weapons here worries us and we are coordinating our intelligence and readiness with the US and others so that we might be prepared for any scenario and possibility that could arise," he said.
Last month, Mr Netanyahu said Israel was making preparations for the collapse of Mr Assad's regime, which he predicted was imminent.
Building a barrier in the Golan Heights would consolidate Israel's hold on territory it seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in 1981 in a move that has never been internationally recognised.
Successive rounds of negotiations over a possible peace deal that would lead to Israeli withdrawal have led nowhere. In 2009, Mr Netanyahu said returning the territory, which contains several Arab towns as well as Israeli settlements, would turn it into "Iran's front lines which will threaten the whole state of Israel".
Israel to build 43-mile security fence in Golan Heights - Telegraph
. Seriously, if you keep the actual status quo, where one state policy become the only option, aren't you concerned that you will end up with a South Africain outcome ?
