BERLIN, Sept 13 (AFP) - German Interior Minister Otto Schily said on Monday the controversial West Bank barrier had proved its worth because it had led to a drop in attacks on Israel, and denied any comparison with the Cold War-era Berlin Wall.
Schily's remarks contrast sharply with Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who in the past has said the barrier was "barely understandable" from a security point of view.
Palestinians see the fence, which at times cuts deep into the West Bank, as an attempt to shrink the size of any future state.
Schily rejected comparisons with the Berlin Wall, saying the barrier did not limit people's freedom.
"Those who draw comparisons with the Berlin Wall are wrong, because it does not shut people in and deprive them of their freedom. Its purpose is to protect Israel from terrorists," he told Deutschlandfunk radio from Israel where he is attending a conference on terrorism.
Schily said the barrier was the result of decades of failed negotiations to prevent Israel coming under attack from Palestinian suicide bombers.
"All the efforts undertaken over many years, even decades, have unfortunately failed to bear fruit," he said.
"So it is understandable that Israel should try to erect a protective barrier, which furthermore has shown it works, and I think that the criticism is far from the reality.
"In this case, you have to ask: what do you have as an alternative?"
Israel insists the purpose of the barrier is solely to prevent attacks, but Palestinians point out that the montage of concrete blocks, barbed wire, watchtowers and trenches which sometimes juts into their land is akin to a land-grab.
A spokesman for the German foreign ministry insisted there was no contradiction between Schily's comments and those of Fischer in the past.
The spokesman said the German government recognised every state had the right to defend its borders while continuing to be concerned over the route of the barrier.
The Israeli government has come under heavy criticism over its construction of the barrier, with the International Court of Justice ruling in July that parts built within the West Bank are illegal and should be torn down.
Israel is due to present the Bush administration with a revised route of the barrier this week after the Israeli supreme court ruled in a test case judgment that the fundamental rights of tens of thousands of Palestinians living near Jerusalem had been violated.