Maps, land and history: Why 1967 still matters

(CNN) -- On the website of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs there is a map -- with a message. The map itself is a basic display of how regional borders looked before the Six Day War in 1967. The message is in the distances drawn from those borders to major Israeli cities.

For example, it's noted that the distance from what was in 1967 the armistice line with Jordan to the Israeli city of Netanya on the Mediterranean was 9 miles; to Beersheeba, 10 miles; and to Tel Aviv, 11 miles. The city of Ashkelon was 7 miles from the edge of the Gaza Strip, then under Egyptian rule.

The point is a simple one: Israel was virtually impossible to defend; any aggressor would try to cut it in half.

That's just what the Arab armies tried to achieve in 1967. On the eve of the war, the Egyptian newspaper al Akhbar noted: "Under the terms of the military agreement signed with Jordan, Jordanian artillery, coordinated with the forces of Egypt and Syria, is in a position to cut Israel in two at Qalqilya, where Israeli territory between the Jordan armistice line and the Mediterranean Sea is only 12 kilometres (7 miles) wide."

It's a point that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed at his White House meeting with President Barack Obama last week.

"Remember that before 1967, Israel was all of 9 miles wide, half the width of the Washington beltway," he said. "And these were not the boundaries of peace, they were the boundaries of repeated wars because the attack on Israel was so attractive from them."

His choice of the word "boundaries" may not have been accidental, because in 1967 Israel had no agreed borders with its Arab neighbors. They were instead armistice lines agreed to in 1949 after the division of Palestine. (Internationally-recognized borders with Jordan and Egypt have since been agreed upon.) The Six Day War rendered those armistice lines redundant.

At the end of May 1967, Egypt, Syria and Jordan were massing troops and armor within striking distance of Israel. Egypt had closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. On June 5, Israel launched a pre-emptive attack that destroyed much of the Egyptian air force. In the days that followed, Israeli forces captured all of Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria and the Sinai peninsula and Gaza from Egypt. Suddenly, Israel had some "strategic depth."

For a time, that altered Israel's military doctrine -- meaning that a pre-emptive first strike was no longer its only option. The October 1973 war showed that Israel was capable of absorbing a first strike and retaliating.

But Ariel Sharon, when he became defense minister in 1981, argued that the modernization of Arab armies and their possession of surface-to-surface missiles had cancelled out the benefits of "strategic depth." He argued that Israel could not absorb a first strike and should be ready to launch preventive and pre-emptive strikes against potential threats. The same argument is made by many Israeli strategists today, in relation to a potential nuclear threat from Iran.

Successive Israeli leaders have rejected a return to the pre-1967 boundaries, starting with Golda Meir in 1969, who said it would be irresponsible for any Israeli government to support such a plan.

Former Foreign Minister Yigal Allon wrote in 1976 that Israel needed defensible borders "which could enable the small standing army units of Israel's defensive force to hold back the invading Arab armies until most of the country's reserve citizen army could be mobilized." When he was prime minister, Menachem Begin said it would be national suicide for Israel to retreat to its pre-1967 borders. And in 2004, President George W. Bush promised then-Israeli Prime Minister Sharon a "steadfast (U.S.) commitment to Israel's security, including secure, defensible borders." Even so, the international community has never recognized Israel's claims to any territory beyond the pre-1967 armistice lines.

Intermittently, there has been greater readiness to negotiate territorial compromise -- most notably at the Camp David summit in 2000, when President Bill Clinton brought together PLO leader Yasser Arafat and then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Barak floated a proposal that would give the Palestinians control of about 90% of the West Bank, while Israel would annex the rest. But there were plenty of complicating factors. According to one account of that summit, Abu Ala'a, a leading Palestinian negotiator, refused to negotiate on a map, arguing that Israel first had to concede that any territorial agreement must be based on the line of June 4, 1967 -- prompting Clinton to exclaim: "Don't simply say to the Israelis that their map is no good. Give me something better!" The summit ended in recriminations.

Ehud Olmert, shortly before he left office in 2008, said Israel would eventually have to give the Palestinians a "similar percentage" of territory in return for the biggest Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank that Israel would want keep in any "final status" deal. "We face the need to decide but are not willing to tell ourselves: 'Yes, this is what we have to do,'" he said. The man who is now Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, then described Olmert's ideas as insanity.

So what, if any, "mutually agreed swaps" -- the phrase used by Obama -- could give Israel the security and the Palestinians the land that would satisfy both?

"The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state," Obama said last week. But in the 44 years since the Six Day War, the map of the West Bank has become cluttered with substantial Jewish settlements -- now home to nearly half a million people. A security barrier meanders deep into the occupied territory, protecting the settlements but dividing Palestinian land into a series of enclaves.

Netanyahu said after meeting Obama that the pre-1967 borders were now "indefensible because they don't take into account certain changes that have taken place on the ground, demographic changes that have taken place over the last 44 years." Those "demographic changes" are the settlements.

In addition, Netanyahu has also said he would insist on keeping Israeli forces in the valley that divides the West Bank from Jordan, even after the establishment of a Palestinian state, as a safeguard against rocket attacks.

"If rockets and missiles break out here, they will reach Tel Aviv, Haifa and all over the state," Netanyahu said as he toured the area in March.

Other Israeli leaders -- including Yitzhak Rabin -- have taken a similar position.

Every year, "facts on the ground" -- and advances in military technology -- complicate the argument over territory, now as visceral as it was in 1967 and 1948. And that's before anyone has uttered the word "Jerusalem."

NATO aircraft pound Tripoli; U.S. envoy courts rebels

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- NATO aircraft launched a barrage of strikes on the Libyan capital Tuesday in what a government official called the heaviest onslaught since the aerial strikes began.
At least 18 rockets struck Tripoli while a U.S envoy was in the eastern rebel-held city of Benghazi courting members of the transitional government.
Jeffery Feltman, the U.S Assistant Secretary of State for the near Eastern Affairs, told reporters in Benghazi that he had extended a "formal invitation" to the National Transitional Council to open a representative office in Washington -- and that the council has accepted the invitation.
Feltman said he came to reiterate a message from President Barack Obama that "Gadhafi has lost legitimacy to rule. He cannot regain control of Libya. And he must step down immediately."
After the air strikes Tuesday morning, smoke was seen rising from the area near Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's Bab-al-Azizia compound in Tripoli.
Moussa Ibrahim, a Libyan government spokesman, said the attack targeted a guard compound for pro-Gadhafi military volunteers that had been emptied in anticipation.
At least three people were killed and 150 wounded, Ibrahim said, calling the attack an escalation by NATO.
Reporters felt and heard the explosions from the hotel where they are staying. Outbursts of gunfire, as well as ambulance sirens, could be heard in the streets.
A NATO statement said the attack targeted a "regime vehicle storage facility" adjacent to the Bab-al-Azizia compound using precision-guided weapons.
The facility resupplies government forces that have been attacking Libyan civilians, according to the NATO statement.
Gadhafi's forces "still represent a threat to civilians and we will continue to strike targets that carry out this violence," said Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard of Canada, who commands the Libya operation.
Journalists later visited a hospital where they reported they saw the bodies of three men, at least two covered in dust, and a number of injured people. CNN did not go on the hospital visit because of safety concerns.
Arrest warrants have been issued by the International criminal Court for Gadhafi and two relatives, linking them to "widespread and systematic" attacks on civilians as they struggle to retain power in Libya.
The court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has said that the court in The Hague will investigate allegations of institutionalized rape in the war-torn country.

A Libyan government official told CNN that Gadhafi's government welcomes the court's investigation but said that prosecutors "have not been to Libya to do an investigation."

Missouri tornado deadliest in decades

Joplin, Missouri (CNN) -- The tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, Sunday killed 117 people, authorities said Tuesday, making it the deadliest single U.S. tornado since modern record-keeping began more than 60 years ago.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said the number of deaths is expected to rise as rescuers find more bodies in the rubble.
A twister in Flint, Michigan, in 1953 killed 116 people, according to the National Weather Service.
2011 set to be deadliest tornado year
"We are going to do absolutely everything we can to make sure they recover," said President Barack Obama, who announced on Tuesday that he plans to visit the region this Sunday.
Obama said he will let people know "the whole country is going to be behind them" and he urged Americans to heed today's storm warnings.
"We are here for you. We're going to stay by you," Obama said.
Richard Serino, the second-highest ranking official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Obama has issued a disaster declaration -- expediting the dispersal of federal resources to the area -- while vowing that "we are going to be here for the long haul."
Stories from the storm: Fear, tears, prayers
Joplin may not be in the clear yet as far as weather goes: the National Weather Service warned there is a 45% chance of another tornado outbreak -- with the peak time between 4 p.m. and midnight Tuesday -- over a wide swath including parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nebraska and Missouri.
"There's no way to figure out how to pick up the pieces as is," Sarah Hale, a lifelong Joplin resident, said Tuesday. "We have to have faith the weather will change."
City Manager Mark Rohr told reporters that more than 40 agencies are on the ground in the southwest Missouri city, with two first responders struck by lightning as they braved relentless rain and high winds searching for survivors.
"One, fortunately, walked away from it; the other one's still in the hospital, last I heard," Joplin Emergency Management Director Keith Stammer told CNN's "American Morning."
Nixon said the one in the hospital is in the intensive care unit.

Hospital nearly only building left standing in area
Several hundred people were injured in the tornado, and about 1,500 people are still unaccounted for, Stammer said. "What that means is they've scattered," he said. "When we open up the area and starting letting them come back in... that number of unaccounted for will start to dwindle."
People who have left the area should call their families and the dispatch center to let authorities know they are OK, Stammer said.
"We are hoping that by the time the sun goes down tonight, we'll be done with our primary and our secondary search and rescue effort," he added.
Some residents said the tornado struck suddenly.
"It all happened so fast," Rachael Neff told "American Morning" Tuesday. "It seemed like forever but it happened very fast."
"We had a few minutes warning. I've never taken any of the warnings seriously but something snapped in me and I put blankets and pillows in the bathroom. We were running to the bathroom. You could hear the home shaking, everything busting out."
By Monday night, officials found 17 people alive. But many, including Will Norton, remain missing.
The 18-year-old was driving home from his high school graduation Sunday when the tornado destroyed the Hummer H3 he and his father were in.
"We were in a separate car. We were about 30 seconds in front of them, one block," Norton's sister, Sara, told CNN. "My dad called and he said, 'Open the garage door.' ... And then I just heard him say, 'Pull over, Will. Pull over.' And then they started flipping."
"My dad said -- when my dad gained consciousness, he said that he saw my brother -- his seat belt snapped and he was ejected through the sunroof," she added.
The family has been tracking a "Help Find Will Norton" Facebook page and pursuing leads on his whereabouts.
Norton's aunt, Tracey, said the family received a tip that the teen was listed on a local hospital's emergency room roster -- but she's not sure where he is now.
"They transferred him, but we're not sure where he was transferred," the aunt said. "When he was transferred, he was alive. We don't know anything other than that."
New graduates face devastation after tornado
The tornado that carved through the city of about 50,000 on Sunday is the deadliest to hit American soil since the National Weather Service began keeping records 61 years ago.
The National Weather Service notes seven deadlier twisters, but says those took place "before the years of comprehensive damage surveys," so they may have been the result of multiple tornadoes.
But the National Weather Service does say that the Great Tri-State Tornado of 1925, which tore across southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwest Indiana, killed 695 people -- "a record for a single tornado."
Last month, two fatal twisters struck Alabama. One hit Hackleburg and the town of Phil Campbell, killing 78 people, and another struck Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, killing 61.
"Everybody's going to know people who are dead," said Zach Tusinger, who said his aunt and uncle died in the Joplin tornado. "You could have probably dropped a nuclear bomb on the town and I don't think it would have done near as much damage as (the tornado) did."
Lightning, gas leaks don't stop first responders
With crews still sifting through rubble, the death toll could continue to climb.
"I think the more time that goes by, the more I feel sick about it," Hale said. "These people are cold and sick and stuck. As the days go on, and the death toll goes up, how many funerals are we going to go to?"
Joplin Mayor Mike Woolston said Monday night that his community hasn't given up.
"We hope that there are people alive. We have a number of apartment buildings, complexes that are almost completely flattened. So we anticipate finding more people, and hopefully we'll get there in time to find them alive," Woolston said.
Joplin, Missouri: Bonnie and Clyde hid out there
Hale said Tuesday that she still hasn't slept since Sunday afternoon, when she didn't know whether her family across town had survived.
"I was hysterical. There's no words to describe not knowing if my family was alive," she said. "The only things left standing in their house was their bathtub and the toilet."
Her mother and grandparents did survive -- by huddling in the bathtub.
Neff, her fiance Zac Bronson and her toddler prayed, screamed and survived.
"We've had a tremendous support system. Our employers, friends and family have been more than helpful and we move on and rebuild. We just start another life. We started a new life," Bronson said.
The tornado chewed through a densely populated area of the city, damaging or destroying 2,000 buildings, eliminating a high school and making a direct hit on one of the two hospitals in the city.
Based on preliminary estimates, the twister carried winds between 190 and 198 mph, National Weather Service director Jack Hayes said.
More than 1,000 law enforcement officers from four states descended on Joplin to help with disaster response, said Collin Stosberg, a spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Also, 217 National Guard troops were on duty, said Maj. Tamara Spicer of the Missouri National Guard. About 30 military police are helping with security and checkpoints as people try to return to their home in areas that may not be safe, Spicer said.
The weather has been hampering wide-area airborne surveillance missions, she added.
The flood of aid from strangers and volunteers has helped ease the misery in Joplin.
"I've seen good-heartedness the past 24 hours like I've never seen in my life," Hale said. "As much help that has poured out from the nation, we need it. We need the help."
Woolston, the mayor, pledged not to let the tornado ruin his city.

"This is just not the type of community that's going to let a little F4 tornado kick our ass. So we will rebuild, and we will recover."

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