Jerusalem - Israel's prime minister designate Ehud Olmert demanded the rapid completion of the controversial West Bank barrier as ministers met on Sunday to approve amendments to its route.

"We must go forward as quickly as possible," Olmert said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.

"The decisions which we are taking will enable us to complete the security barrier as quickly as possible so that we can best prevent terrorist attacks."

Olmert last week hosted a meeting of top security officials to decide on changes to the route in the wake of an April 14 suicide attack in Tel Aviv carried out by an Islamic Jihad militant who slipped into Israel from the West Bank via east Jerusalem.

The acting premier in particular ordered that gaps in the concrete structure around Jerusalem be filled in before permanent work has been completed.

The Israeli defence ministry announced earlier this month that half of the 670km barrier had been completed.

Israel justifies the massive barrier of electric fencing, barbed wire and concrete walls by insisting it is vital to stopping potential attackers from infiltrating the country and Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

The Palestinians denounce the project as a cynical attempt to grab their land and undermine the viability of their promised state.

In 2004, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued a non-binding ruling that parts of the barrier in the West Bank were illegal and should be demolished.