Barak to discuss security fence along Egypt border

By REBECCA ANNA STOIL
Defense Minister Ehud Barak is expected to meet with ministry Director-General Pinhas Buchris on Sunday morning to discuss plans to establish two stretches of security fence along the border with Egypt. The proposed fences would cover less than half of the length of the open border, one encompassing the area closest to Eilat and the second farther north near Nitzana and Har Harif, where a large bulk of the illegal entries across the border are concentrated. The plans call for the "smart" electronic fence to be completed within a number of months - on the condition that money is appropriated from the Finance Ministry. Ultimately, Buchris's plans for the border region are not limited to the fence, but to increasing troop presence and improving the intelligence systems operating along the largely isolated border.