Israeli Fence May Be Model For Trump Border Wall

According to Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, if President-elect Donald Trump needs a model for his proposed wall along the Mexico border, he should look no farther than Israel.

Between 2011 and 2013, Israel built a fence wall along its border with Egypt to keep out a surge of African immigrants.

“They had, like we have, an uncontrolled flow coming into the southern border,” Johnson told the Washington Examiner. “And they said they had to stop it.”

Johnson is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — the Senate committee that would need to approve Trump’s proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall.

“There were thousands of primarily Africans coming through the southern border,” Johnson added.

He continued:

It’s now down to the teens. And they did it in two years, spending about $400 million on a 260-kilometer fence, that’s about 163 miles. That’s about $2.5 million per mile. A very effective fence. You can see through it. It’s basically built with rebar and razor wire.

They have about a five-minute response time. Nobody can use a wire cutter. You can cut through the fence, but it’s going to take some time. You’d need some serious tools to cut through this fence. You can also see through it, which is important.

According to CBS News, in a post-election interview with “60 Minutes,” Trump stated that his planned wall may, in fact, include fencing.

“They’re talking about a fence in the Republican Congress, would you accept a fence?” interviewer Lesley Stahl asked Trump.

“For certain areas I would, but certain areas, a wall is more appropriate,” Trump began. “I’m very good at this, it’s called construction.”

“So part wall, part fence?” Stahl continued.

Trump concluded, “Yeah, it could be — it could be some fencing.”

“I think you’re going to find some areas where a wall would never work, and I think everybody’s always understood that,” Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota stated, notes Politico. “In other areas, it might be something like a fence. But in all cases, what we’re talking about is securing the southern border.”

Sources: Washington Examiner, CBS News, Politico / Photo Credit: Senator Ron Johnson/Twitter