The security fence protects the lives of Israelis but poses hardships to the lives of Palestinians.

Demonstrators filled the streets outside the United Nations International Court of Justice at The Hague in Holland last February, where the court considered the legality of Israel's security fence. The activists were supporting Israel's right to build the fence, which aims to keep Palestinian terrorists out. While renouncing Arab opposition to the anti-terrorist fence, American Congressman Steve Chabot reminded Israel's supporters that those who train children to be homicide bombers should be on trial, "not people who build fences to protect innocent lives."

Terrorism threatens Israel and other democracies around the world. Like the United States and most European nations, Israel protects itself. For example, when Israeli military officials discovered that Palestinian terrorists most often enter Israel from Palestinian controlled territory in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), the Israeli government began constructing a security fence. Palestinian authorities are objecting to the security fence, asserting that Israel is seizing Palestinian land and creating an un-negotiated border. Israel has answered that complaint, saying that the fence is not a border, but instead, a necessary barrier that will save lives.

MORE CONCERNS

The Palestinians also complain that the fence cuts off farmers from direct access to their fields and prevents others from traveling easily to jobs, schools, and hospitals. Israeli officials respond that the fence is necessary even if it causes some hardships. "In our concern for the quality of life of the Palestinians we cannot forget the right to life of Israelis," says Daniel Taub of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "The fence and the hardship it causes are reversible. Lives lost to terrorism are not."

Nonetheless, Taub says that Israel has acted to ease Palestinian hardships. Dozens of crossing points have been created to allow farmers access to their fields, and the government has replanted tens of thousands of Palestinian olive trees that were uprooted.

DEBATE AMONG ISRAELIS

Although polls indicate that 84 percent of Israelis support the security fence, there is less agreement on its route. The debate is focused on how far outside (east) of the Green Line the fence should stand. The Green Line is the unofficial armistice line that was drawn between Israel and Jordan at the conclusion of Israel's War of Independence in 1948. Nineteen years later, when Jordan attacked Israel during the Six Day War, Israel captured Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). Because this land lies over the Green Line, diplomats began calling it "disputed" territory. Palestinians want it for their state, while Israelis built towns there, not only to fulfill historic and religious claims, but also as a means of establishing defensible borders.

Currently, the fence juts out east of the Green Line in certain places to protect several Israeli towns. Some Israelis feel this is unfair to Palestinians, while others- especially those who live beyond the fence's path- feel that the fence doesn't extend far enough.

THE JEWISH VIEW

Judaism permits people to defend themselves against a rodef (an attacker who presents an immediate threat to human life). The status of rodef clearly applies to Palestinian homicide bombers who infiltrate Israel to kill innocent civilians. Therefore, according to the Jewish tradition, building an anti-terrorist fence is an appropriate and just response to terrorism.

On the other hand, Judaism identifies peace as the foundation of the universe and urges us to vigorously pursue it (Pirkei Avot 1:12, 18). Some Israelis believe that the security fence is a deterrent to peace because it imposes hardships on Palestinians and intensifies Arab hatred of Israel.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Does the security fence inspire more hope for peace in the future, or present a new obstacle to peace?