Although Israel has been insisting for 30 years that defensible borders were the key element of its security, no one up to now has defined precisely what would constitute secure borders from which there can be no withdrawal. That question has taken on a degree of urgency since President Anwar Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem and subsequent developments that may bring Israel into negotiations with its neighbors sooner than expected.
When Defense Minister Ezer Weizman took office, he set up a special team to consider Israeli strategy and defense policy. Sadat’s visit changed the situation and the team has been expanded and its level raised. The group, headed by Gen. Abraham Tamir, is now composed of eight senior military officers. Their assignment is to re-evaluate past political and military positions in light of recent events and to prepare operational recommendations for the Defense Ministry. The recommendations will be the basis for finally determining where Israel’s defense borders must be located.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
