Tue Dec 23, 1:10 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Friday touted Israel's controversial West Bank separation barrier as a model of "how to defend against terrorism."
"Over the years, the security fence has gone from the project that set the international community against us to a project that constitutes an example of how to defend against terrorism," Olmert said as he inspected the partly completed section around Jerusalem.
Israel says the barrier is crucial to preventing attacks in the Jewish state, but Palestinians call it an "apartheid wall" that cuts off large chunks of the West Bank.
"Wherever there is a fence, terrorism against Israelis is prevented," said Olmert. "Countries that wish to fight the kind of terrorism that we have absorbed in Jerusalem and other cities throughout Israel, will yet study the model of the security fence."
The controversial barrier consists of more than 400 kilometres (260 miles) of walls, fences and barbed wire, with about 300 kilometres (190 miles) more being built or planned, according to UN figures which show 87 percent is located inside the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem.
Around Jerusalem, 110 kilometers (68 miles) have been built and about 50 more (30 miles) are under construction, the prime minister's office said.
"The fence in the greater Jerusalem area must be completed by the end of 2009. This is vital to the security of Israel," said Olmert.
In 2004 the International Court of Justice issued a non-binding ruling declaring parts of the barrier illegal because they were built inside the occupied West Bank, but Israel has pressed ahead with its construction.
