TEL AVIV, September 11. /TASS/. Israel is working to build an "effective barrier" to arms smuggling into the West Bank from Jordan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"Problems have been getting bigger recently. There is an attempt to smuggle terrorists and weapons across the Jordan River into Judea and Samaria (the Israeli names for the West Bank - TASS) and into Israeli cities. We are working to create a more effective barrier against smuggling attempts. We are doing this with consent of our neighbors (Jordan - TASS)," Netanyahu said during a visit to the Israeli-Jordanian border, according to a statement from his office.

According to the prime minister, Israel is fighting a war on several fronts and needs to protect its eastern border with Jordan as well.

"This is a peaceful border. We are cooperating with Jordan to make sure it remains so," he said.

On August 29, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said there was an urgent need to build a fence along Israel's border with Jordan to prevent the smuggling of Iranian weapons into the West Bank. He also stated that Iran is "working to create an eastern front of terror" against Israel by smuggling weapons, financing and running terrorist organizations. According to Katz, the Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank is "unable to confront this threat," even though it threatens its existence as well.

On September 8, three Israelis were killed in a shooting attack by a truck driver near a bridge over the Jordan River, which serves as a border crossing to Jordan.

"The terrorist approached the Allenby Bridge from the Jordanian side in a truck," the Israel Defense Forces said.