Defensible Borders for a Lasting Peace

Introduction - Dr. Dore Gold

Executive Summary

Defensible Borders on the Golan Heights - Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland Israeli-Syrian negotiations in 1999-2000 discussed security arrangements to compensate Israel for the loss of the Golan Heights. The idea was to guarantee that in case of war, IDF forces could quickly return to the place where they are currently stationed. This analysis demonstrates that Israel does not possess a plausible solution to its security needs without the Golan Heights. Not only was the "solution" proposed in the year 2000 implausible at the time, but changing circumstances have rendered Israel's forfeiture of the Golan today an even more reckless act. 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 © 2008   Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs