Israel to build wall on border with Egypt

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to build a wall on the border with Egypt to prevent African migrants from changing Israel's racial balance.

Netanyahu believes building a wall along the southern borders with Egypt is an "unavoidable and strategic" measure, which Tel Aviv must take to ensure that thousands of migrants do not cross over from Africa, Israel's Maariv daily reported Tuesday.

According to Maariv, the prime minister sees the migration of Africans as a problem that may escalate in the coming years and disrupt the demographic balance of southern Israel.

The paper writes that from Netanyahu's point of view migration from Africa has already changed the faces of the two cities of Arad and Eilat in southern Israel.

Maariv adds that Netanyahu has held several meetings with Israel's top officials to discuss plans for the new separation wall.

During the meetings, it has been decided that the barrier will either be a costly wall, a cheaper electronic fence or an integration of both.

The Israeli military has proposed that barrier be in the form of the separation fence with an estimated cost of up to 5 billion shekels (approximately 1.5 billion dollars).

The Israeli Minister of Finance, Yuval Steinitz believes, however, that it would be much simpler to build a fence, at a cost of about 450 million shekels (approximately 120 million dollars).

Ministry of Public Security has also suggested an alternative that integrates the two.