Updated

Israel's Defense Ministry is advancing a plan for a roughly 500-kilometre barrier along the Jordan border, estimated to cost NIS 5.5 billion, alongside civilian expansion in the eastern region. The Jerusalem Post, citing Walla, reported on Monday that the plan is coordinated by the ministry's Eastern Region Directorate under Brig.-Gen. (res.) Mordechai Benita and draws on lessons from the October 7 attacks, treating local residents as part of national defense. Maj.-Gen. Eran Ofir, who heads the Seam Zone Directorate, oversees the barrier, which is meant to stop terrorist infiltration and the smuggling of weapons and drugs. The first several dozen kilometres are already built, and officials are examining moving part of the route eastward toward the Jordan River at an estimated NIS 2 billion, which would allow Route 90 to be widened and new farmland developed. The excerpt gave no construction timeline. The ministry is also promoting about 40 settlement and civilian presence sites, including pre-military academies, national service programs and new communities such as the moshav Batron. Young people at the new sites would receive military training to serve as initial emergency responders, and local response squads and operations rooms are being upgraded. The population gap is stark: about 250,000 people live on the Jordanian side of the border, against just over 20,000 on the Israeli side, and the ministry and local leaders aim to double the eastern population within a decade. Benita said the plan includes data centers for the AI industry and renewable energy facilities. The Transportation Ministry has allocated NIS 35 million to plan expanding Route 90 into a multilane highway.