Despite intense efforts in Western capitals to second-guess Israel’s security requirements, the top Israeli leadership has been remarkably consistent about what Israel requires to protect its vulnerable borders. The architects of Israel’s national security have insisted on retaining “defensible borders” for assuring a stable peace.

In the aftermath of the Six-Day War in 1967, Gen. Earle Wheeler, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted: “From a strictly military point of view, Israel would require the retention of some captured Arab territory in order to provide militarily defensible borders.”

In 2004, President George W. Bush wrote to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon: “The United States reiterates its steadfast commitment to Israel’s security, including secure and defensible borders to preserve and strengthen Israel’s capability to deter and defend itself, by itself.”

IDF Maj.-Gen. Shlomo Yanai published a study on Israel’s “Core Security Requirements” in 2005 and concluded: “Despite the technological advances of modern defense systems and warfare, controlling the high ground remains an essential part of basic security doctrine.” Similarly, former IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Gadi Eisenkot wrote Guidelines for Israel’s National Security Strategy in 2019 and included “defensible borders” among the seven principles for the military security of Israel.

The West Bank mountain ridge, together with the Jordan Valley, constitutes a strategic barrier reaching more than 4,600 feet in some places to protect Israel against threats from the east on its longest land border.

In the face of threats from Iran and Muslim terror armies equipped with state-of-the-art conventional weapons systems, terrain, topography, and strategic depth remain critical, as does Israel’s need for defensible borders.

The writer, former Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Israeli Ambassador to the UN, is President of the Jerusalem Center.

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