NETANYAHU BACKS TRUMP’S MEXICO WALL:

Israel’s PM Netanyahu on Saturday 28 Jan. 2017, expressed his support for President Trump’s controversial plan to build a wall along the USA-Mexico border, saying the barrier he built along his country’s southern border "stopped all illegal immigration”. Trump last week signed executive actions to start the construction of a continuous, "physical” wall, making good on a campaign promise to keep out illegal immigrants from Mexico, particularly "rapists” and drug dealers. "Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders," Trump declared. "We are going to save lives on both sides of the border." Trump has forged ahead on the wall promise, despite Mexico refusing to pay the bill, as Trump said it would. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto responded immediately to Trump’s declaration, saying in a nationally televised address that he regrets and rejects the president’s decision, nixing a planned meeting between the two leaders.

The southern wall in Israel -- completed in 2013 after two years of construction and paid for by Israel -- is not the Judea & Samaria barrier, built to end terror attacks launched from Palestinian Arab cities. The Southern wall was built because Israel was facing problems from the influx of tens of thousands of illegal African immigrants through Egypt -- mostly from Eritrea, Sudan, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast and Nigeria and seeking employment and asylum. Their arrival also coincided with a spike in crime, more burden on the Israeli health system and other social problems. Those coming into the USA from the south are seeking better economic conditions and include people fleeing El Salvador and other parts of Central America, ravaged by poverty, violence and other consequences of the region’s drug wars. (Fox)