Magal Security Systems wins $5.5 Israeli border security contract
With fighting over in the north, Israeli government looks to shore up its defenses against infiltrators; mountainous region and long-term occupation caused neglect of technology-based systems
Long before American legislators found electoral success on the border, Israel was building one of the world’s most advanced perimeter intrusion detection systems. The reason is not mainly illegal immigration (although more than 100,000 Palestinians have illegally moved into Israel in the last two decades, often as a result of marriage). Ever since its founding in 1948, terrorists have repeatedly sought to enter into Israel to commit terrrorism. The defensive system built around the Gaza Strip, and the controversial wall currently being build through the West Bank, are aimed at stopping suicide terorists from crossing into Israel and, so far, both defensive systems (the one along the West Bank is not yet complete) are regarded as having performed well in stopping terrorists.
All is not as well in the north. The fighting in the Lebanon earlier this summer, precipitated by the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers on the Israeli side of the border, illuminates the ongoing struggle of the government to secure that border with the same success it has had with its southern and eastern frontiers. The rocky terrain is the main culprit, as is a long occupation history in the region that obviated the need for a a more detached, technologically sophisticated program. Hoping to plug the hole, the Yahud, Israel-based Magal Security Systems (TASE: MAGS) announced this week it had received a $5.5 million contract to install a perimeter detection system along the northern border with Lebanon and Syria. Most of the work will be executed before the end of 2006, with the balance to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2007.
“This order is part of the reconstruction work that has begun along the northern border of Israel,” said CEO Izhar Dekel. “Securing the northern Israeli border has recently become one of the Israeli Government’s most important mandates. Magal, whose systems are currently protecting the majority of Israel’s borders, is pleased to be a part of this important mission of protecting the citizens of northern Israel.” Israeli investors are bullish on Magal. During the recent conflict in Lebanon, shares of the company rose 20 percent in heavy trading.
-read more in this company news release
