Israel MAP: The Palestinian Region's Changing Borders

President Obama's call for Israel to return to pre-1967 borders has quickly stirred up controversy.

The call joins a heated debate about a key Palestinian demand that the borders be returned to those prior to the Six-Day War, when Israel occupied East Jerusalem, according to the AP. The move is a strong shift from previous U.S. position, and is almost certain to anger Israel.

Previous borders can be seen in the maps below.

From the AP:

Israel has said an endorsement of the 1967 borders would prejudge negotiations, and Obama took pains to show respect for Israel's views ahead of his meetings Friday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

You can see a clip from the speech below, or read more here.

While the speech barely touched on some of the more divisive issues in the conflict, how this statement will affect U.S.-Israel relations in the future is now a bit up in the air.

A map of the region according to the 1967 borders:

A map of the current breakdown of authority in the Israel/Palestine region:

A simplified version of the Original 1947 U.N. Partition Map:

Watch a segment of the President's remarks

Comments

[Keyop]

04:25 PM on 05/24/2011

Who cares, let them fight and figure it out. This has been the same headline for years and i really dont care about the place or the people.

[so old indeed]

12:20 PM on 05/24/2011

What is really strange is the decision to put the Israelites in, historically, where the Philistines and Phoenicians where rather than putting them in the highlands of Canaan where they originated.

[Donatella]

01:34 PM on 05/24/2011

Or giving them part of Germany, the country that was responsible for the mass murders. The Arabs weren't responsible for the German attrocities but they had to pay the price.

[cwaged1002]

03:35 PM on 05/24/2011

The UN gave then that option, but they wanted historical homeland back. Maybe the question should be what were the historical borders of Israel? That seems to be their goal.

[NickTAZ]

12:13 PM on 05/24/2011

The maps provided here, while accurate, are not clear and easy to read. Look at these maps to give yourself a clearer understanding!!

http://journalturk.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/israel-palestine-map.jpg

[kaypic]

02:06 PM on 05/24/2011

Thanks for the post, one can really see the differences.

[Silence Dogoody]

03:34 AM on 05/24/2011

AP... are you calling Obama a liar?!

"The move is a strong shift from previous U.S. position, and is almost certain to anger Israel."

Obama said this was the same policy as past U.S. agreements... I guess we have to call a spade a spade though, don't we?

[karvictho]

08:05 AM on 05/24/2011

Well, I can only hope that non-compliance by Israel angers Obama enough to result in America halting the billions in aid sent there every year.

[jeffanie]

09:56 AM on 05/24/2011

3 trillion actually.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV6BXrzUa00

[oddballmarine]

10:27 PM on 05/23/2011

Anyone familiar with the gov't system in Bosnia & Herzegovina and would agree that Israel and Palestine should be based on that country runs?

[Sal Glen]

10:24 PM on 05/23/2011

One of the givens of the Middle East peace process is that Palestinians are eager to be free of rule by Israel and to live in a state of their own. That's why a new poll of the Arabs of East Jerusalem is striking: It shows that more of those people actually would prefer to be citizens of Israel than of a Palestinian state.

The poll, conducted in November, may be something of an embarrassment to Palestinian political leaders

[Staxx]

12:49 AM on 05/24/2011

A poll by the Israelis I bet. Yet they claim all the Palestinians want them dead.

[cdncommentator]

10:02 AM on 05/24/2011

Don't be ridiculous.

The reason for the results of that poll: the Israeli democratic and social security system.

Israel is a wealthy country, relatively. It has good health care and social security. People don't want to give that up to be citizens of a new poor country. Further, there is no Arab country that provides an example of a well-functioning country who does well for its citizens.

That said, this is not an impediment to a peace deal.

[Donatella]

01:43 PM on 05/24/2011

I suspect that it is true because of Israel's wealth. Compare Israel to Gaza and, yes, most people would rather live in Israel but not as a lower caste with limited rights.

But you need to look at the reasons for the Palestinians plight and state of their economy. Israel has been doing everthing it can to damage their economy and coax them to leave so Israel can take over their land. The Israelis tear up old olive trees, steal the land, harrass the farmers and construct a "security" wall which cuts off farmers from their land and takes more land from the Palestinians. Is it any wonder that the Palestinian life is not attractive.

[ADrax]

10:06 PM on 05/23/2011

On the maps, the place where most Palestinians live seems to have been left out of the green color -- East of the River Jordan! If they spent as much blood and treasure taking control of the political areas where they are 2/3 of the residence, conflict with Israel would be irrelevant.

[Silence Dogoody]

03:39 AM on 05/24/2011

Good call, why aren't the Palestinians given their own country in Jordan, and the right to vote etc...?

[bluetopia]

01:06 PM on 05/24/2011

If you will notice on the map , the WEST Bank was a part of Jordan. That's like saying "Why don't those Texans stop complaining about the Mexican horde and just move to Oklahoma". Lot's of luck with that kind of thinking. The truth is even if the Israeli's went back to the '67 borders, which IS THE US POLICY for 40 years, all the Palestinians ARE getting IS a part of Jordan.

[hfpf]

08:18 PM on 05/23/2011

Pres. Obama quickly learned that 2 years as a community organizer does not make one qualified as a mid-east expert. How quick he was to retract (qualify) his ridiculous statement about a return to 1967 borders.

"Mr. Obama's intention is to persuade Mr. Abbas to give up his UN bid and return to negotiations with Israel. To do so, he endorsed one of the conditions Palestinians have tried to set for talks: that they be based on Israel's 1967 border lines. But Mr. Netanyahu has not yet signed on, and so Mr. Obama's decision to confront him with a formal U.S. embrace of the idea, with only a few hours' warning, ensured a blowup.
Mr. Obama should have learned from his past diplomatic failures - including his attempt to force a freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank - that initiating a conflict with Israel will thwart rather than advance peace negotiations. He may also be giving short shrift to what Mr. Netanyahu called "some basic realities." The president appears to assume that Mr. Abbas is open to a peace deal despite growing evidence to the contrary.
This president likes to portray himself as a pragmatist in foreign policy. In this case, pragmatism would suggest that restoring trust with Israel, rather than courting a feckless Palestinian leader, would be the precondition to any diplomatic success." (Washington Post)

[Staxx]

12:46 AM on 05/24/2011

I know, one has to be smart to understand Obama's ways. All the intelligent people get it.

[hfpf]

01:24 AM on 05/24/2011

You obviously don't.

[Leper]

01:29 AM on 05/24/2011

>>How quick he was to retract (qualify) his ridiculous statement about a return to 1967 borders.

In what way did President Obama either retract or qualify his statements? His original statement was clear to everyone without an agenda who happened to be listening and not lying.

[hfpf]

02:28 AM on 05/24/2011

Realizing a mistake was made, the White House issued this statement:
"It is very difficult for Israel to be expected to negotiate in a serious way with a party that refuses to acknowledg¬e its right to exist. And so for that reason I think the Palestinia¬ns are going to have to answer some very difficult questions about this agreement that's been made between Fatah and Hamas. Hamas has been and is an organizati¬on that has resorted to terror; that has refused to acknowledg¬e Israel's rights to exist. It is not a partner for a significan¬t, realistic peace process.

[urwrongimnot]

07:34 PM on 05/23/2011

pm ntyhu had the look in his eye......"must i lower myself to this conversation", when shaking hands w/ B.O.....hehehehe----one look says a thousand words!!!

[Dexter35]

06:51 PM on 05/23/2011

1967 border have NEVER been workable; I think that is crystal clear today. A solution "along" these lines does little to resolve the fundamental issue of the conflict that date back to 1948 and before. If we don't address the roots of the conflict, there is no way to resolve it in a just and sustainable manner.

The only viable solution today is one secular democratic state for both people. It is amazing how in the 21st century people are afraid of giving others rights and equality.

Ok, now cue the Zionists to tell us how this will lead to the "destruction" of Israel.

[Bullitt08]

09:41 PM on 05/23/2011

Given the high Palestinian birthrate they would be a majority of voters in a few years.

That does not necessarily mean they would try to take control of the nation or make major changes if they did. But you never know.

[nk5otr]

05:13 PM on 05/23/2011

The first sentence of this article is misleading. This language explains why:

"While many headlines had focused on (Obama's) call for 1967 lines, he said, they downplayed the caveat of mutually agreed land swaps.

This, he said, meant that Israel and the Palestinians would negotiate a border that is different from the one that existed on June 4, 1967, when the Six Day War began and Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/22/obama-aipac-speech-2011-p_n_865198.html

[jerryny]

04:41 PM on 05/23/2011

The maps showing areas under Palestinian or Israeli control is somewhat misleading. The Oslo accords divided the West Bank into three areas. Area, A under PA military or police control as well as PA civil control ( about 17% of the land, Area B, under Israeli military control but PA civil administration (about 24% of the land, and Area C under both Israeli military and civil control (59% of the land). I believe your map combined areas A and B as under PA administration but most of the is under Israeli military control.

[KevinPA]

03:42 PM on 05/23/2011

who were the idiots in the UN back in 1947. take a look at the partition plan from 1947. Neither the Jewish State or the Palestinian State have any chance of working under those lines unless both states were very friendly.

[myopinion2]

04:26 PM on 05/23/2011

why. You don't think triangles balanced on their points is a stable foundation.

[KevinPA]

08:43 AM on 05/24/2011

Not my favorite for a foundation for sure. Basically whom ever devised the original plan did such a poor job that people are suffering today and continue to suffer due to the inherent flaws. Even when you look at what Bibi is thinking from a geography perspective, will take a bad situ and make it worse. Its going to be like my neighbor owns my living room in my house or something. The only solutions, in such tight spaces is for both groups to really start liking each other so that they can interact in this crazy maze. Will take a generation or two but a vision of what things may be is a good start

[CigarGod]

06:16 PM on 05/23/2011

Got that right.
Designed to fail from the beginning.

[johnqpublik]

02:29 PM on 05/23/2011

The Neo-Assyrians just called....they'd like the Kingdom of Judah back please...

[nomoredead]

12:50 PM on 05/23/2011

http://notesfromamedinah.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/israel_palestine_map-sott.jpg?w=801&h=539

Another view....

[LynxAlexiaBlack]

03:00 PM on 05/23/2011

What will it take for people to see that Israel is in the WRONG on all of this?.?. Why dose the US keep BLINDLY supporting one of the worst human rights violators out there?.?

[nk5otr]

05:10 PM on 05/23/2011

We don't support the worst human rights violators: Iran, Syria and Libya are the worst human rights violators.

[urwrongimnot]

05:41 PM on 05/23/2011

u SERIOUS??? notice not 1 single example of either point on this comment..PLEASE.......don't quit ur day job Lyn!!!!!! "worst human rights violators out there?.? "???? what about China.....Syria??? Jordan?? what about firing an RPG rocket at a school bus and kiling an innocent 16 year old Israeli student ? That's a human rights viloation!!!!..Please use brain b4 u post comments