On the recordMay 24, 2011
on Thursday, in a speech on the Middle East, President Obama said: We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. While the President has since sought to revise or clarify his remarks, it is valuable to remind ourselves what a retreat to the pre- 1967 boundaries would mean for the security of Israel. After Israel declared independence in 1948, it was invaded by five neighboring armies, and an armistice line was subsequently established in 1949. This line is known as the Green Line. While some refer to it as a border, it was never officially recognized as an international border. If Israel were forced to retreat to the Green Line--its pre-1967 boundary--Israel would be only 9 miles wide at its narrowest point. Such close borders are untenable today and would subject Israel's population to great and grave danger. Following the Six Day War, U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 affirmed Israel's right to secure and recognized borders. As Robert Satloff of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy points out, calls for Israel to withdraw to those ``secure and recognized'' borders have never been interpreted as being synonymous with the pre-1967 boundaries. A quick look at a map of Israel will explain why these boundaries cannot be secure.…
