Israel to spend billions of dollars building wall on Jordanian border

Israel has launched a multi-billion dollar project to build a wall along its eastern border with Jordan.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu oversaw the start of construction, which will form part of the ring of concrete and barbed wire around the country.

A similar fence has been built from Kerem Shalom to Eilat, along the Sinai border with Egypt, and an enhanced security fence has been erected on the Golan Heights border with Syria. The new Jordan-border wall will eventually join the northern wall.

Work began on Sunday on the first 30km stretch from Eilat to Timna, where there is an airport being built. Work will be completed in just over a year.

“We are doing this without harming, in any way, the sovereignty of Jordan, which we respect and whom we see as a partner in preserving a peaceful border,” Netanyahu said.