The wave of terrorist attacks in Israel over the past two weeks has brought the failures of the West Bank separation fence back into public debate. The Palestinian assailant who killed five people March 29 in Bnei Brak drove into Israel through an unmonitored agricultural gate in the fence, bringing with him an automatic weapon which he used in his attack. 

The construction of the separation fence began in the summer of 2002, when the Sharon government authorized a barrier between the West Bank and Israeli territory at the height of the Second Intifada. In a few months, tens of kilometers of the barrier were built. The wall was supposed to extend close to 700 kilometers, but construction was never completed.

The main reason the project stalled was budgetary, but there were other factors. Center/left-wing circles, as well as many in the Israeli security establishment, believe that the illegal Palestinian workers who commute to Israel help the Palestinian economy, which decreases the motivation for terrorism. Therefore, some security officials say that preventing Palestinians who wish to work in Israel from entering could cause unrest.

This situation is comfortable for the Israeli right wing as well, which fears that finishing the separation fence would establish facts on the ground for giving up territory.