Netanyahu pledges to secure border with Jordan, stop Iranian smuggling of weapons into West Bank

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Following the terrorist attack on the border with Jordan on Sunday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would allocate funds in next year’s budget to build a security barrier along the border with Jordan.

In Sunday’s terrorist attack, a Jordanian truck driver, who had hidden a weapon in his vehicle, opened fire after crossing to the Israeli side of the Allenby Bridge crossing, killing three Israeli workers.

“An abhorrent terrorist coldly murdered three of our citizens at the Allenby Bridge crossing. On behalf of the government and myself, I extend condolences to the families of the victims,” Netanyahu said at the Sunday Cabinet meeting.

“We’re surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran’s Axis of Evil. In recent days, vile terrorists have brutally killed six of our hostages in cold blood, as well as three Israeli police officers. The murderers don’t differentiate between us; they want to kill all of us, to the last person – right and left, secular and religious, Jews and non-Jews," he continued.

"What prevents the annihilation of our people, as in days past, is the strength of the State of Israel and the IDF’s power. The spirit of bravery among our soldiers, police officers and security forces, the supreme sacrifice of our heroic fallen and the resilience of our people – that’s the difference between us.”

Securing the border with Jordan would significantly limit Iran’s ability to smuggle weapons to its terrorist proxies in Judea and Samaria, internationally known as the West Bank.

“Iran is also operating on the eastern front to smuggle arms to terrorists in the West Bank,” Netanyahu told his Cabinet. “We intend to strengthen our capabilities in this area and take various additional actions – alongside constructing a barrier to prevent the smuggling of weapons. This will be addressed immediately in the 2025 budget.”

Last month, Negev and the Galilee Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf officially requested an emergency cabinet meeting to address the growing mass infiltration from Jordan, as well as the looming security threat on Israel’s eastern border, citing a recent investigative report by the Maariv news outlet that revealed that more than 4,000 individuals had illegally crossed the largely unguarded border from Jordan to Israel in recent months.

“This is not just a demographic problem, but a real threat to the integrity of the State of Israel,” Wasserlauf warned. “The unsecured border serves as a conduit for smuggling weapons, drugs, and dangerous materials, allowing our enemies to penetrate our territory.”

In September 2023, the Times of Israel reported Netanyahu promising to secure Israel's border with Jordan repeatedly for more than 10 years.

“Netanyahu has announced the creation of such a fence along Israel’s border with Jordan a number of times over the past decade: He ordered IDF and Defense Ministry officials to start planning in 2012, touted the start of construction of a sensor-laden fence on the southern border with Jordan in 2015, and announced in 2016 that he planned to ‘surround the entire State of Israel with a fence.’”

During the Sunday Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu also addressed the Iranian nuclear threat and urged unity within Israel.

“We’re engaged in a fight against the Axis of Evil led by Iran. Our top commitment is to do everything to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. I've been discussing the Iranian threat for over 20 years, and it’s good that most of us understand these positions today. If we hadn't acted over the years, Iran would have already acquired nuclear weapons by now. We’re also dealing with Iran's proxies, through which it seeks to strangle us in a chokehold,” the prime minister said.

“When we stand together, our enemies can’t defeat us and that’s why their main goal is to divide us, to sow discord in us. Some ask, if we’ll fight forever – in the Middle East, there’s no eternity without fighting.”