Israel plans to tighten security in Jerusalem

Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Israeli officials presented a plan Tuesday to tighten security in Jerusalem, possibly including erecting fences and checkpoints to keep Palestinians out of the Jewish side of the city, scene of two deadly attacks in the past week.

No decision was reached on the proposals, which came as police reinforcements flooded the eerily quiet downtown section.

Frequent attacks in Jerusalem have led to calls to tighten the closure that keeps most West Bank Palestinians out of the city and also to find a way to limit the access of east Jerusalem Palestinians to the city’s Jewish western side.

Any division would pose logistical complications, since Israel has built Jewish neighborhoods all around the eastern sector, where about 200,000 Jews live.

Security experts on Tuesday offered Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a plan that includes patrols, fences and checkpoints. The Haaretz daily and Israel TV said the national security council chief, Maj. Gen. Uzi Dayan, proposed building a nearly seven-mile-long wall.

But in a statement, Sharon opposed any physical division and said "the plan must be treated as a whole, covering the Jewish and Arab neighborhoods alike." He said it would include some Arab villages that fall under Palestinian civilian but Israeli security control; their legal status would not be changed.

Sharon aide Raanan Gissin admitted there would probably also be security checks, fences and some kind of checkpoints in some areas inside the city as well.

Elsewhere Tuesday, Israeli forces entered Artas, a West Bank village near Bethlehem, and arrested three Palestinians. One was a senior figure in the Islamic Jihad, one of the groups that has carried out suicide bombings against Israelis, the Israeli military said. Six Palestinians were wounded, none seriously.