Despite drafting the plan and marketing it with great fanfare, a budget for
its implementation has yet to be allocated.

Settlement security not improved since massacre
By YAAKOV KATZ The Jerusalem Post 01/22/2012 05:58
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=254606

IDF yet to implement security upgrades in settlements a year after the Fogel
family was murdered by terrorists in Itamar.

Almost a year after five family members were murdered by terrorists in
Itamar, the Defense Ministry and IDF have yet to implement a plan aimed at
revamping and upgrading settlement security measures.

The plan – drafted by the army’s Central Command and expected to cost around
NIS 500 million – was put together following the Palestinian infiltration of
the Itamar settlement near Nablus on March 11, 2011, and the murders in
their home of Udi and Ruth Fogel and three of their children.

Following the attack, officers from the Central Command visited all of the
settlements in the West Bank and produced a “security suite” for each one.
The plan was also supposed to include unauthorized West Bank outposts.

Despite drafting the plan and marketing it with great fanfare, a budget for
its implementation has yet to be allocated.

In addition to physical barriers, the IDF also uses advanced radar and
camera systems to secure settlements.

“No money was allocated last year or this year,” a senior IDF officer said
last week.

“The situation is becoming dangerous.”

Concern is not limited though to the IDF. Fears are also rising within
settlements, which are experiencing an upsurge in criminal infiltrations.

Eleven homes in Eli, for example, were broken into over a single weekend
last month and other settlements, such as Halamish, are without a fence.

Defense officials said the plan was still under review but was the victim of
budget cuts and the reduction in the defense budget. Money for settlement
protection is supposed to come from the IDF Home Front Command, which is
responsible for erecting fences and installing radar systems.