Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a dedication ceremony for Israel’s new International Airport, which is located in the country’s southwestern Negev desert, some 19 kilometers north of Israel’s most-southern city of Eilat. During his dedication speech, Netanyahu declared the newly inaugurated airport to be a clear metaphor of the fulfillment of the Zionist dream. In the Israeli Prime Minister’s words, “A moment ago, around this corner, we planted a tree in the middle of the desert and now we look up to the skies of the Arava (Eastern Negev desert). The Zionist dream is becoming a reality, planting roots on the homeland’s soil while at the same time elevating on the wings of success. Today we completed a national project after years of work and enormous effort, the Ramon international airport will be used by this generation as well as future generations. We plant, we build, we develop the state of Israel for our children, our grandchildren and our great grandchildren.” The airport, which is situated close to Israel’s eastern border with Jordan, prompted the Prime Minister to reiterate the importance of assuring effective border-security. To realize the imperative defensive necessity, Netanyahu referred to a multi-barrier fence that is being constructed along all of Israel’s borders, after proving effective against illegal infiltration by migrants from Israel’s southwestern frontier with Egypt. “The fence we set up on the Egyptian border, for over 200 kilometers, has easily stopped the infiltrators from Sinai. The eastern fence located in the Arava region, right behind us, including around the airport, in addition to other measures -will provide us protection against the terrorism threats of radical Islam. We will complete (constructing) the fence, along our entire eastern border. In fact, we will surround the entire State of Israel with defense (multi-barrier) fences, “Netanyahu said.
