JERUSALEM, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- An Israeli High Court Sunday ruled a West Bank security fence line proposed in an area north of Jerusalem is legal.
The special nine-judge panel, headed by former Chief Justice Aharon Barak, said it had to consider security issues of where the fence would be built to help protect Jerusalem from possible terrorist infiltration, YNetNews.com said.
The proposed route in the Bir Naballah area would leave five villages outside of the Israeli side of the fence, excluding about 1,500 Palestinians, many of whom carry Israeli identification cards.
In the opinion, Barak wrote, "We accept the State's position that there is a need to build a separation wall to advance the security objectives of protecting Jerusalem, nearby communities and roads leading to it, from terror activities."
Hadash Chairman Mohammad Barakeh said the high court's decision "was intended to give a legal umbrella to a racist fence, which was dismissed at the international court in The Hague."
