The war that began in fall 2023 was one year after I published The Borders of the Land of Israel and the State of Israel (Resling, 2022), which traced the Land of Israel’s mapping from the mid-19th century to the maritime agreement with Lebanon in 2022.
The book ended on an optimistic note, but then came the accursed October 7, with its multiple traumas, consequences, and subplots. One of those subplots is a new attitude toward how borders ought to be treated and set.
Yes, Israel’s borders with Egypt and Jordan remain unchanged, though it should be noted that the government decided to build an enormous fence facing Jordan, from Hamat Gader to Eilat. Israel will thus entrench itself behind protective fences, much like the Roman and Chinese Empires in their times.
Elsewhere, however, Israel appears to be moving the border itself.
In Lebanon, the IDF took five outposts north of the international border, then reached the Litani River, and has also crossed it. This is while there is Lebanese willingness to finally settle all border disputes with Israel, on land and at sea.
In Syria, Israel invaded the demilitarized zone east of the Golan, and then ventured even deeper, including the Hermon Summit and areas to its east, toward Jabal al-Druze.
On the Palestinian front, the IDF camps in much of the Gaza Strip with the intention of remaining indefinitely along the so-called Yellow Line. In Judea and Samaria, annexations are intensifying as small outposts proliferate across Area C, at times involving evictions of residents.
Israel, like all UN member states, is a signatory to a declaration stating that it will refrain from going to war unless faced with an immediate and clear danger. Furthermore, it is internationally accepted that even if territory is conquered in a just war, the victor must not annex it.
Such a redrawing of borders would only be possible through a bilateral agreement. That is why, following its peace accord with Egypt, Israel withdrew from the entire Sinai Peninsula. That is also why the peace accord with Jordan altered the location of the border line in the Arava Desert through a mutual agreement.
That was more than 30 years ago. Now, Israel seems to be continually changing its borders according to its military might. Our only partner in this attitude is President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which has bitten off territories from Georgia and is trying to annex territories from Ukraine, all through the use of military force.
A similar effort was made in 1974 by Turkey, when it invaded Cyprus, occupied a sliver of its north, and stated it would establish an independent state there. Morocco waged a similar effort the following year when it invaded Western Sahara.
Indeed, interesting company to be with. Durable borders between states will be established only by mutual agreements, not by military occupation.
The writer is professor emeritus of Geography and Human Environment at Tel Aviv University.