The 'separation fence', under construction since 2002, is often considered to represent a dramatic break with previous territorial management systems in the Middle East. However, over the 20th century, other models of closure developed that may have indirectly influenced the separation fence. Although designed on different scales, they might contribute to the same paradigm of spatial closure, which alternately expresses social, religious or security concerns. The article explores forms of spatial closure on various scales - the block, the village, the city, the settlement and the gated community - within the Israeli-Palestinian space.