JERUSALEM, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- The security barrier Israel is building in and around the West Bank will be closer to the pre-1967 war lines, but will still encompass big settlement blocks.
The cabinet Sunday approved the new route. Twenty ministers voted for it, one against, and one abstained.
Minister without Portfolio Haim Ramon told reporters the new route would leave 6.5 percent to 7 percent of the West Bank on the "Israeli side" of the barrier compared with 16 percent according to the previous plan.
The government was forced to change the route after the High Court of Justice ordered planners to give more consideration to Palestinian needs.
The route will nevertheless veer into the West Bank to encompass the area of settlement town of Maaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, and Gush Etzion near Bethlehem.
Some 10,000 Palestinians live in the areas west of the barrier, meaning in the West Bank, but on the barrier's Israeli side. However the government is considering more changes to the route that would see 4,000 of those Palestinians back on the eastern, or Palestinian, side.
The barrier has proved very effective in reducing the number of attacks in Israel even though only about one third of the 412-mile route is operational.
