Jewish communities in the West Bank are being increasingly protected by sophisticated combinations of laser radars and thermal cameras, in place of the antiquated iron fences and barbed wire that once kept out intruders.The Jerusalem Post reported Friday that the Shabam Administration, the military body responsible for thinking up new ways of protecting Jewish settlements from Palestinian terrorists, will soon receive an additional $95 billion in funding to continue its work.

Since beginning its work in December 2004, Shabam has created custom high-tech security systems for 47 settlements, most of them isolated from Israeli population centers or larger settlement blocs.

The systems are usually comprised of laser radars that detect potential intruders up to half a mile away and thermal cameras that then automatically home in on the suspect and follow him or her until a local security teams or military unit can intercept.

Shabam head Lt.-Col. Roni Yitah told the Post that the system creates “a virtual fence around the settlements.” It has proved so effective that in areas where the system is installed the army has been able to decrease its physical presence by 50 percent.

According to the report, the system was recently inspected by US government officials, who are considering deploying the advanced Motorola-developed radars along the porous Mexican border.

AHN