Calls for Israel to return to the so-called “1967 borders” are common in political debates and media commentary. Yet this phrase is misleading on multiple levels. It ignores international law, historical facts, and the tragic realities imposed on Jews when Jordan and Egypt controlled these territories. It also erases the earlier two-state solution enacted by Britain itself when Mandatory Palestine was divided into Jordan and Israel.
No Such Thing as “1967 Borders”
The lines in question were never internationally recognised borders. They were 1949 Armistice Lines, drawn after the Arab states launched a war of annihilation against the newly-declared State of Israel. Both the UN and the Arab governments explicitly confirmed that these lines were temporary ceasefire demarcations, not political boundaries. UN Security Council Resolution 242 (1967) further underlined that Israel was not required to withdraw from “all the territories” captured, but rather to negotiate “secure and recognised boundaries.”
Oslo and East Jerusalem
Despite frequent claims to the contrary, there is no Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem. Under the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is prohibited from carrying out official business there. Jerusalem remains Israel’s capital, and its status is subject to final-status negotiations. Calls to unilaterally divide the city therefore contradict both the letter and the spirit of the very agreements the PA signed.
Jordanian and Egyptian Rule: Ethnic Cleansing and Repression
When Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria (the so-called “West Bank”) from 1948 to 1967, and Egypt seized Gaza, neither established a Palestinian state. Instead, both enacted harsh measures against Jews and suppressed Palestinian Arab independence movements.
- Jordan (1948–1967):
- Conducted ethnic cleansing of Jews from the Old City of Jerusalem, Hebron, Gush Etzion, and other ancient Jewish communities.
- Destroyed or desecrated 58 synagogues in the Old City and used Jewish gravestones to pave roads and latrines.
- Denied Jews access to their holiest site, the Western Wall, in violation of the 1949 Armistice Agreement.
- Egypt (1948–1967):
- Controlled Gaza with an iron fist, never offering its Arab residents independence or citizenship.
- Suppressed dissent and denied Palestinians political autonomy.
- Used Gaza as a base for fedayeen raids against Israel, deliberately stoking conflict rather than building peace.
It was during this period (in 1964, three years before the Six-Day War) that the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was created, not to liberate “occupied” Gaza or Judea and Samaria (then held by Arab states), but to destroy Israel itself.
The PLO Charter made this clear:
“Palestine with its boundaries at the time of the British Mandate is a regional indivisible unit,” and “This Organization does not exercise any regional sovereignty over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the Gaza Strip or the Himmah Area.”
In other words, the PLO (founded when no Israeli presence existed beyond the 1949 Armistice Lines) openly rejected any claim to Gaza or Judea and Samaria, recognising them as Egyptian and Jordanian territories. Its sole mission was the elimination of Israel within its pre-1967 borders.
This fact obliterates the myth that Israel’s post-1967 control of these territories somehow thwarted Palestinian statehood. There was no Palestinian claim to them when they were under Arab rule – only once they were under Jewish sovereignty did the “statehood” demand emerge.
Britain’s Division of Palestine: The First Two-State Solution
Equally forgotten is that the original two-state solution was implemented not in 1947 with the UN Partition Plan, but in 1922 when Britain divided Mandatory Palestine.
- 77% of the territory east of the Jordan River was carved out to create Transjordan (today’s Jordan), exclusively Arab.
- The remaining 23% west of the Jordan River was reserved for the Jewish national home.
This division was enshrined in international law under the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine. By creating Jordan, Britain already established the Arab state alongside the future Jewish state. Calls today for a “two-state solution” ignore that one already exists: Jordan and Israel.
Conclusion: Clarity Over Myths
The demand for Israel to return to “1967 borders” is built on myths. There are no such borders, only armistice lines. The lands in question are disputed, not “occupied,” as established under international law (uti possidetis juris). Far from being Palestinian territory, they were misused by Jordan and Egypt—who expelled Jews, suppressed Palestinians, and denied independence.
Meanwhile, the two-state solution was effectively realised over a century ago, when Britain created Transjordan for Arabs and left a sliver of land for the Jews. The only consistent reality across this history is that Israel has been expected to make concessions while its enemies’ violations are ignored.
For peace to have any chance, the conversation must begin not with myths about “1967 borders,” but with the truths of history, law, and justice.
