Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled a possible compromise this week on demands to halt settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. If the move is followed by concrete actions, it could improve relations with the Palestinians, which have been tense since the peace talks broke off last year.

But people on both sides are hoping for peace instead of continued conflict. One of them is Dani Atar, the mayor of Gilboa district in Lower Galilee. He seeks security in promoting a cross-border industrial project.

Eight years ago things were very different in this community near the West Bank. In those days it was a lot easier for Palestinian suicide bombers to cross the border. Most of them came from the neighboring Jenin area in the West Bank.

Things were at their worst in 2001, when the second intifada broke out, says Atar. He counted 600 attacks in his district that year. "There were forest fires, bomb attacks in our villages and shooting at our houses. Early evening our villages seemed deserted. Everyone would shut themselves up at home and pull down the blinds," recounted Atar.

He added that in those days nobody would board a bus or enter a shopping center unless they really had to. "For a brief period, terror had managed to disrupt daily life".

A private fence as a last resort

But the Israeli government refused to build a fence and so, in 2002, Mayor Atar, determined to protect his citizens, founded the Movement for a Fence. After a Palestinian blew himself up at a neighboring junction killing 17 bus passengers, Atar flew to the United States, to collect donations for the fence in Jewish communities there.

"I wanted to show [then Israeli prime minister] Sharon that he was mistaken, so we decided to build our own fence. With the donations and hundreds of volunteers we managed to build the first eight kilometers of fence," explained Atar.

Within only two weeks in December 2002 and amidst large media coverage, the first private border fence in Israel was built – directly along the Green Line, the internationally recognized border between Israel and the West Bank.

Jobs for Palestinians and Israelis

But the idea was not simply to build walls and cut people off. Instead, Atar also wanted to promote a peaceful way to live with the Palestinian neighbors. In 2005, the Israeli mayor re-launched the cooperation with the neighboring Palestinian city of Jenin, which had started long before the second Intifada.

Together with Jenin’s governor Kadura Moussa, the Gilboa district initiated an Israeli-Palestinian industry park directly on the border, which would supply 15,000 jobs for Palestinians and 1,700 for Israelis.

Erez Stein, the project's director, told Deutsche Welle that the goal is to set up an industry park on the Palestinian side of the border where the workers would not be checked by Israel, nor would they need Israeli work permits.

The cooperation would consist in building a similar industry park and logistics center on the Israeli side of the border, he added.

"But both zones will be independent. The commodities coming from Jordan and the Haifa port will be stored on the Israeli side, the final products for export as well".

Economic opportunity boosts security

Germany has provided the Palestinians with a loan of 10 million Euros ($14.3 million) for building the infrastructure. But despite international support, the project is not coming along, said Dani Atar. There is almost no progress in any of the essential fields, he complains: water, electricity, road, train connection, sewage. The Palestinians are still dependent on Israeli infrastructure, which Israel does not provide.

The Israeli position is contradictory, he noted: "When there’s terror, one stops normalization in order not to reward it. And when terror stops, some of us say: It’s quiet – why do we have to do anything?"

Instead it should be Israelis' top priority to create mutual interests, economic development, a better quality of life and less unemployed Palestinians, he added.

"If you are busy feeding your family you have no time for terror."

Author: Igal Avidan (Anke Rasper/rri)

Editor: Mark Mattox