Israel is constructing the separation fence between Israel and the West Bank. Israel contends the fence is being built to prevent terrorists from infiltrating Israel and carrying out attacks, but because it is being built inside the West Bank rather than on the 1967 border, some contend the fence is a means for Israel to appropriate Palestinian land. Despite such claims, there is little dispute that the fence has resulted in a significant decline in terror attacks.
On several occasions Israel's Supreme Court has ruled that the route of the fence must be altered to lessen its negative impact on Palestinian populations in the West Bank.
Despite Palestinian terror attacks, the International Court of Justice at The Hague ruled in July 2004 that the fence violated international law, but Israel has refused to
In 1995, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin created a committee to investigate building a fence between Israel and the West Bank, but it wasn't until 2002, under the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, that real construction began.
The first stage of the construction was completed in July 2003 and efforts to complete the fence continue today.