Defensible Borders for a Lasting Peace

Israel's decision to disengage from the Gaza Strip has placed the future of the disputed West Bank at the top of the international agenda. Prominent voices have called on Israel to withdraw fully from the West Bank and return to the 1949 Armistice Lines (1967 borders) – a move that would undermine Israel's security and even pose an existential threat. It is therefore a matter of urgency that while the debate over the future of the Middle East addresses Palestinian claims for an independent state, Israel's rights and requirements for defensible borders, as proposed by President George W. Bush, are now placed squarely on the global diplomatic agenda.

"The United States reiterates its steadfast commitment to Israel's security, including secure, defensible borders."
– U.S. President George W. Bush to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, April 14, 2004

Revised and Updated - 2008

Contents
Introduction - Dr. Dore Gold
Executive Summary
Introduction:
Defensible Borders for Peace - Dr. Yuval Steinitz, Chairman, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
The Military-Strategic Perspective:
Israel's Requirement for Defensible Borders - Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, former Head of Assessment, Israeli Military Intelligence

Appendix 1 - Military-Strategic Aspects of West Bank Topography for Israel's Defense
The Legal Perspective:
Understanding UN Security Council Resolution 242 of November 22, 1967, on the Middle East - Dr. Meir Rosenne, former Ambassador of Israel to the U.S. and France
The Diplomatic Perspective:
The U.S. and "Defensible Borders": How Washington Has Understood UN Security Council Resolution 242 and Israel's Requirements for Withdrawal - Dr. Dore Gold, former Ambassador of Israel to the UN

Appendix 2 - Letter from U.S. President George W. Bush to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, April 14, 2004
Appendix 3 - U.S. Senate and House of Representatives Approve Commitments to Israel in President Bush's Letter of April 14, 2004
Appendix 4 - Statement of U.S. President George W. Bush to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, April 11, 2005, in Crawford, Texas
Maps:
Map 1 - Israel and the Middle East
Map 2 - Israel Within the 1949 Armistice Lines (pre-1967 Borders)
Map 3 - Allon Plan, 1970
Map 4 - Threat to Israeli Population Centers from West Bank Terrain
Map 5 - Vital Israeli Interests Threatened from Strategic Terrain Beyond the Security Fence: Protecting Ben-Gurion Airport and the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Highway
Map 6 - Israel's Strategic Vulnerability from the West Bank
Map 7 - Topography and Israeli Security: Utilizing the 4,200-Foot Mountain Barrier to Protect Israel's Vulnerable Coastal Plain
About the Authors
About the Defensible Borders Initiative - Dan Diker

The idea of defensible borders has been at the heart of the Israeli national consensus for years. In fact, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin laid this out in his last Knesset address in October 1995 – just one month before he was assassinated. Rabin insisted that: "The border of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War." He emphasized: "We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines." Specifically, he noted "the security border of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term." He concluded that Israel must retain "a united Jerusalem" and the settlement blocs of the West Bank. Rabin reflected the views of most Israeli leaders that defensible borders are the key to a durable peace in a volatile Middle East.

After the Gaza Disengagement
Establishing Defensible Borders for Israel

A presentation at the
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Washington, D.C. - June 27, 2005

Event Webcast: Presentations by
Dr. Dore Gold and Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror