Transcript [00:03] Israel is one of the smallest countries [00:05] in the world, surrounded by terrorist [00:07] armies committed [music] to its [00:09] destruction. Its narrow borders and lack [00:11] of strategic depth pose an existential [00:14] threat. Hamas's October 7th invasion and [00:17] massacre show just how porest Israel's [00:20] borders are and how little distance [00:22] separates its homes and communities from [00:24] the Jewish state's fiercest enemies. [00:27] across each of its borders, Lebanon, [00:29] Syria, Gaza, and Jordan to the east, as [00:32] well as with the Palestinian Authority. [00:34] Israel must maintain battle zones to [00:35] provide the critical strategic depths it [00:38] needs to defend against jihadi enemies [00:40] armed with drones, missiles, and rockets [00:42] who are determined to penetrate its [00:44] borders. The Iranian regime backs these [00:47] [music] enemies from afar, exploiting [00:49] Israel's curtailed borders to escalate [00:51] the threat. In Gaza, defensible borders [00:54] mean sustain Israeli security parimeter [00:56] inside the strip, including along the [00:58] Egyptian border with some arrangements [01:00] to stop weapons, smuggling, and terror [01:03] attacks. Gaza must be fully [01:06] demilitarized in line with the United [01:08] States led and the UN decision 20 point. [01:11] Only continuous readiness, operational [01:14] control, and strategic depths can ensure [01:16] that the Gaza border is truly defensible [01:19] and that Israel's suffering communities [01:21] are safe. In the east, Israel must [01:24] continue to secure the Jordan Rift [01:26] Valley and the Judea and Samaria [01:28] mountain ridge, a natural barrier that [01:30] protects against [music] invasion and [01:32] defends Israel's coastal plane, where [01:34] 70% of its population [music] lives and [01:37] where 80% of its industry is located. [01:40] Defensible borders for Israel means [01:43] maintaining control of the Jordan Valley [01:45] in the broadest sense. Blocking [01:47] terrorist infiltration, preventing the [01:49] rise of terror networks inside [01:50] Palestinian population centers, [01:52] especially refugee camps. This requires [01:55] freedom of action and the ability to [01:57] stop threats before they emerge. [02:00] On its northern borders, Israel faces [02:03] threats from jihadar armies in Lebanon [02:05] and Syria. In Lebanon, Krisbala built a [02:08] heavily armed force right on Israel's [02:10] northern border, ready to storm into [02:12] Israel and conduct an October 7th style [02:15] invasion and massacre. Its anti-tank [02:17] missiles and terror infrastructure place [02:20] Israel's northern communities in [02:21] existential danger in Syria. Jihadist [02:25] forces threatened the Gulan heights. [02:27] Israel response has been to establish a [02:29] buffer zone to secure the strategic [02:32] heights of Mount Hermon from the Syrian [02:34] side and prevent the possibility of [02:36] invasion. That is the painful lesson of [02:39] October 7 for both Syria and Lebanon to [02:42] prevent threats before they materialize. [02:45] Defensible borders to Israel's north, [02:47] south, and east are vital to protect its [02:50] citizens. This critical necessity is [02:52] fully mandated by international law. [02:55] Under international law, Israel has the [02:57] sovereign right to defend itself from [03:00] any threat from beyond its borders. As [03:03] long as there is such a threat, Israel [03:05] can act on the ground by buffer zones or [03:08] by any other action to protect itself [03:10] from that threat. As long as that threat [03:13] continues, [03:15] >> defensible borders are essential not [03:17] only to protect Israel. They're a [03:19] guarantor of America first security [03:22] policy in the Middle East. It's in our [03:25] interest to see that Israel can defend [03:28] its own borders, that it has defensible [03:30] borders, that its domestic population is [03:32] not put [music] at risk of hostile [03:35] action, engagement uh by Hezbollah, for [03:38] example, [music] rockets and missiles [03:40] and drones intentionally fired on the [03:42] non-combatants inside Israel, which is [03:45] itself is a war crime. The fact of the [03:47] matter is all of that's important to an [03:49] average American because it would be in [03:51] our interest to promote an allies [03:55] defensible borders. Not only is Israel a [03:58] friend and philosophically a country we [04:00] should help defend, but they also are a [04:02] great ally where they can pick up some [04:04] of the security load in the Middle East [04:06] for us. And u we need to be smart about [04:07] that. We can't depend on anybody else in [04:09] the Middle East to do [music] that. [04:10] Israel is our major ally in the region [04:12] and it's the most important thing we [04:14] have there.
October 7 exposed the deadly consequences of inadequate strategic depth and porous borders. In this special JCFA-JISS explainer video, leading Israeli security experts and senior U.S. military figures explain why defensible borders remain essential to protecting Israel from threats emerging from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, the Jordan Valley, and Iran-backed terrorist networks across the region.
Featuring Dr. Dan Diker, President of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA); Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, Head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS); Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, Jacques Neriah, Amb. Alan Baker, Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, Brig. Gen. Ernest Audino, and Gen. Charles Wald.
Together, they examine the strategic, military, and legal case for buffer zones, operational freedom, control of critical terrain, and the ability to stop threats before they reach Israel’s communities, while explaining why a secure Israel also serves vital U.S. security interests in the Middle East.
