Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel will build a new border fence along the border with Jordan, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday evening.
הקמנו גדר בגבולנו הדרומי (מצרים) ובלמנו את ההסתננות משם לישראל. עצרנו בכך למעלה ממיליון מסתננים מאפריקה, מה שהיה הורס את המדינה שלנו.עכשיו נקים גדר בגבולנו המזרחי (ירדן) ונבטיח שלא תהיה הסתננות גם משם.נשמור על הגבולות שלנו - נשמור על המדינה שלנו! pic.twitter.com/LmHdYWgXVk
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) September 3, 2023
"We erected a fence on our southern border (Egypt) and stopped the infiltration from there into Israel. We thereby stopped over a million infiltrators from Africa, which would have destroyed our country," wrote Netanyahu.
"Now we will build a fence on our eastern border (Jordan) and ensure that there will be no infiltration from there either. We will protect our borders - we will protect our country!"
Netanyahu's announcement came a few days after it was cleared for publication that the IDF had thwarted an attempt to smuggle Iranian-produced explosives from Jordan to Israel in July.
At the end of July, the IDF announced that it had thwarted an "unusual" weapons smuggling attempt in the Jordan Valley near Ashdot Yaakov. It is estimated that the explosives were intended for terrorist organizations in the West Bank. The investigation of the smuggling was assigned to the Shin Bet, according to KAN.
In July, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant informed the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that a new border fence with Jordan was going to be built to prevent the smuggling of weapons to the West Bank, according to Army Radio.