Calls to build a secure border fence were a reaction to the increase in drug and gun smuggling.
Israel will start building the long-discussed security fence along its border with Jordan. The project, expected to last three years, will cost NIS 5.2 billion ($1.4 billion).
Calls to build a secure border fence were a reaction to the increase in drug and gun smuggling over the border, which is blamed for the sharp rise in violent incidents within the Arab community and acts of terrorism against Israelis.
The border, stretching from Hamat Gader at the southern edge of the Golan Heights to Ramon International Airport north of Eilat, includes a 30-kilometer (18-mile) section upgraded similarly to Israel’s border barriers with Egypt and the Gaza Strip during the 2010s.