The current armed conflict in Gaza, Lebanon, and the West Bank has brought back into the center of public discourse a long-running debate: where exactly should the borders of Israel be set – and according to what criteria, principles, or historical facts?  In recent months we have seen Israeli demonstrators cleared out of Gaza and Lebanon by the army, when they attempted to cross the border and symbolically “settle,” while government ministers call for permanent occupation or annexation in all three areas. Meanwhile, the government has been actively and passively moving to extend and entrench sovereignty in the West Bank and “encourage” emigration by the Palestinian inhabitants. So it is clear that there are a lot of us who don’t see the 1949 armistice lines as final borders, and who have a much more expansive vision of the territory of the state of Israel – and who see that geographical ideal as worth paying any price to realize.

The Torah’s promised borders (Num. 34), though many of the points defining them have not been positively identified, seem to include Gaza, the West Bank, and a large swath of Lebanon and Syria – but not most of the Negev and Aravah south of Beersheba. King Solomon managed to expand sovereignty beyond this area, eastward into Trans-Jordan and south to Eilat – but not over the coastal strip where the Philistines retained control, from Gaza up to........

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