Myth: The security barrier and checkpoints are intended to suppress Palestinians

As a result of the deadly Second Intifada in 2000, the Israeli government and defense forces built a security fence to prevent Palestinian terrorists from infiltrating and murdering innocent Israeli civilians. While many of Israel’s critics refer to the security barrier as an “apartheid wall,” only approximately 5% of the barrier – where the most terrorists were infiltrating into Israel – is in fact a wall.  

Since installation of the security fence, terror attacks in Israel have significantly decreased and suicide bombing terrorist attacks have all but ceased. In 2002, the year before the construction of the security fence, there were 5,301 terrorist attacks and 451 fatalities. In addition, every year Israel catches a significant number of terrorists at the checkpoints, preventing the murder of innocent people.   

Palestinian terrorist leaders have themselves cited the barrier as the reason for their diminished ability to attack Israelis. Abdallah Ramadan Shalah, of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said that, while his group was determined to continue suicide bombings, sniper attacks, and other forms of terrorist “resistance,” the separation fence is “an obstacle to the resistance, and if it were not there, the situation would be entirely different.”