Security sources: Cost of fence could rise to NIS 15M per km

[bemildred]

Despite public statements by members of the
security services, which put the cost of the
separation fence Israel is building in the West
Bank at NIS 10 million per kilometer, internal
discussions have thrown up figures that are
significantly higher.

The Israel Defense Forces and the Defense
Ministry have recently presented the treasury
with a new calculation, whereby the cost of
each kilometer of fence is closer to NIS 11
million. According to security sources,
however, treasury officials have claimed in
discussions that the real cost of the fence -
given the additional costs the IDF and the
Defense Ministry have added to the
construction process - will be NIS 15 million
per kilometer.

Security officials have rejected the treasury's
calculation, describing the figures as
"inflated." The reason, according to the
security officials, is that the Finance Ministry
has included in its calculations all of the extra
costs of the entire project, and divided that
figure by the planned length of the fence.
Defense Ministry sources regard these
additional costs as "external costs."

Haaretz