Poor security

Most suicide bombers, including the one who killed 9 Israelis in Tel Aviv two
weeks ago, enter Israel thru gaps in the Security Barrier around Jerusalem.
This is because the Barrier is complete around most of Samaria (Shomron), the
northern West Bank, but there are still openings in the fence in the Jerusalem
envelope, where the Barrier is mostly a concrete wall. Three days after the
last bombing, the Jerusalem Post sent a reporter to check the security at
these openings, which vary from several kilometers to several meters in
length. He found that the Border Police were on duty at most of the gaps in
the fence, but they were simply not checking the Palestinians streaming into
Jerusalem and Israel. This included people who drove up on the Palestinian
side, brought boxes of goods with them over the obstacles or through the holes
and then drove off on the Israeli side, often in taxis that were waiting for
them, without ever having their IDs or their goods checked!
As a result of this report, PM Olmert introduced legislation, to have
immediate effect, to beef up security in all the gaps around Jerusalem, to add
funds for temporary barriers where the gaps are located and to increase the
number of security personnel, and to take action to resolve the 50 or so civil
suits still outstanding against the fence from both Palestinian and Israeli
sources. They also made some changes in the route of the Fence to exclude some
Palestinians and reduce the inconvenience to others. Also, the actual checking
of Palestinians was to be passed from the IDF Border Police to the civilian
Police.
This week, after the legislation is supposed to have been implemented, the
Jerusalem Post again sent its reporter to check the security. They found a
mixed result. In some cases where last week there was no security, where
Border Guards simply stood by and watched the Palestinians stream in, there
were now more of them and they were checking the IDs of all Palestinians.
However, in other places there was no change in the security, and any one of a
large number of Palestinians could have been a suicide bomber, and there was
no security check whatsoever! How is this possible? When questioned the
Border Police said that it is up to the local officers, they seemed to think
that it was not their responsibility to check the Palestinian's IDs. In that
case, why are they there?
In no case did the reporter see any temporary fences added to plug the gaps,
neither were there any Police personnel present to check the IDs of the
Palestinians. What is going on here, after all the terrorism and suicide
bombings why is there not the least attempt by the authorities to provide
security to the citizens of Israel? That is what the fence is supposed to be
for. What is the point of spending millions of shekels on it, and then
leaving the gaps unsecured, open for anyone to walk through. This is
disgusting and a sample of the incredible lack of consideration that one often
finds in Israel for the safety and security of fellow citizens. Please write
to PM Olmert complaining about this dangerous and unacceptable lack of
security!