At first glance, one is shocked. The images one recalls of the pastoral desert border between Israel and Egypt have been erased. The landscape is cut by a grey, towering metal fence. At the top of it one sees not only barbed wire, but also sharp knives. Alongside this menacing fence lies more barbed wire, affixed to the earth, with a patrol road nearby.

Some 60 contractors in the fields of construction, imaging, communication and electronic equipment are involved in setting up the fence. About 600 people with heavy machinery are working on it intensely every day. Thus far, the fence consumed 15,000 tons of iron. By the end of the project it shall swallow up 60,000 tons, constituting 15% of Israel’s iron for construction.

Everyone realizes that once our border with Egypt is sealed off, the drug dealers, human traffickers and terror operatives will extend their path, cross into Jordan from the Sinai, and from there infiltrate Israel. Indeed, the Defense Ministry and IDF are already planning to complete Netanyahu’s vision by setting up a fence along our border with Jordan as well.

Another 200 kilometers of iron, cement, sophisticated electronic equipment, and so on. Granite rocks will have to be blown up. This is a well-oiled machine; just give it money and it will rush forward, while swallowing up billions of shekels.

You could argue that this is a Zionist, incredibly important defense venture. Yet one must admit that this fence is the mirror we look into. This is our face. In the past 20 years we’ve turned into porcupines; we’ve become a frightened nation that imprisons itself behind fences and retreats into defensive walls.

How did it happen to us?

In the year 2000 we built a smart, electronic fence on our northern border. It made sense; after all, Hezbollah is a dangerous and unpredictable foe.

In the past decade we started to erect the West Bank barrier: A cement wall along with an electronic fence equipped with sensors and cameras. We’re still building it today. This made sense; we must curb the suicide bombers and illegal aliens.

In 2005 we also built a sophisticated fence around the Gaza Strip. It monitors the area, fires on its own, and can even sing our national anthem if you want. It made sense; Hamas is also a dangerous foe.

After that we also had to curb terrorism and infiltrators from the Sinai. There is no argument that we need a fence. We also need one on the Golan Heights, after Palestinian refugees crossed the border and rushed into Majdal Shams. So we came up with a proud Zionist response – a sophisticated 15-kilomter fence.

In a few years, once the fence on the Jordanian border is built, we shall complete our disengagement from the Middle East. Who would believe that once upon a time we spoke about integrating into the region? By now we are a tiny state with a large fence. How did it happen to us?

Mental illness

In the past 20 years, we were completely overcome by the national mental illness. All our primordial fears erupted: The whole world is against us. Should our border be breached, everything shall fall apart, the state will collapse, and all of us will be exterminated. So we go into the bunkers. Apparently this is deeply entrenched in our DNA: A persecuted people who seeks cover.

This is happening precisely when the country is led by native Israelis, some of them proud generals. Apparently they gauge the public mood: The nation of Israel is no longer willing to fight or pay a price. Half the nation doesn’t even serve in the army.

So we fortify ourselves behind fences and invest billions in defensive-political weapons that mostly serve as a tranquilizer. After all, even if we get nine Iron Dome anti-missile batteries, what good will they do in the face of the 200,000 rockets which the IDF intelligence chief spoke of recently, contributing his share to the national paranoia.

We are again Diaspora Jews in our own country. There is no wonder that the polls show a religious revival; after all, it is God who shall protect us.

Such society, which loses its self-confidence, does not convey deterrence. With all the bombs and advanced aircraft, this is not a society that conveys a sense of strength. The Americans and Iranians can sleep well; this is not a society that will decide to strike in Iran and pay the price.