RAMALLAH, January 8 (JMCC) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on the first day of the new year that his government plans to build a fence along its border with Jordan.

Israel is finishing work on a similar fence along its border with Egypt, where thousands of African migrants have crossed illegally from Egypt.

A Knesset report released Sunday stated that 250,000 foreigners live in Israel, where the population numbers about 7.8 million. Some 45,000 of these foreigners are illegal African migrants seeking asylum in Israel.

Since the fall of the Egyptian government last year, the Sinai region has suffered a breakdown in security and Israeli officials have worried about infiltrators and attacks originating there.

Officials told the Jerusalem Post that they believe that once the southern fence is completed in September and the route from Egypt is closed, migrants will try to seek entry through Jordan.

Official Israeli policy seeks to maintain a strong Jewish majority in the country and large numbers of foreign workers and migrants are often seen as a threat to this aim.