The heads of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff were of the opinion, shortly after the 1967 Six Day War, that Israel cannot afford to give up Judea and Samaria, for strategic reasons.

A declassified document obtained by Mark Langfan for Arutz Sheva reveals that the military opinion of the US military leadership after the war is in line with that of present-day nationalist Israelis who say that Israel must not, under any circumstances, relinquish control of Judea and Samaria. The map drawn by the Joint Chiefs shows Israel keeping a swathe of land that stretches from the so-called "Green Line" in the west, all the way up to the center of the mountainous ridge in Judea and Samaria in the west.

Arutz Sheva analyst Langfan pointed out Monday that current IDF generals have become more “leftist” than the US generals were in 1967 regarding Israel's safety. The military reportedly is willing to cede most of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority and maintain only an IDF “presence” along the Jordan River. US Secretary of State John Kerry is pressuring Israel to accept this deal.

Under the subheading “requirement,” the document, which is dated June 26 and June 29, 1967, states that “A boundary along the commanding terrain overlooking the Jordan River from the west could provide a shorter defense line” for Israel. However, “as a minimum, Israel would need a defense line generally along the axis Bardala-Tubas-Nablus-Bira-Jerusalem and then to the northern part of the Dead Sea.”



Excerpt from Joint Chiefs' 1967 document.

This describes an Israeli presence along present-day Route 60 that connects Shechem and Jerusalem. The line is far more generous to Israel than the maps being currently considered in "peace talks.".

"From a strictly military point of view...the views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff...(see as necessary Israeli) control of the prominent high ground running north-south" through Judea and Samaria, reads the report. Langfan notes that this region, deemed crucial for defensible Israeli borders, is the very area that is slated to be given to the PA under Kerry's plan.

He says: "In 1967, before shoulder-fired anti-air missiles, before laser-designators, before radar and radio-jammers, before Katyushas from Lebanon and Gaza, before rampant Muslim-on-Muslim use of Sarin-tipped-chemical-Katyushas in Syria, the greatest collection of military professionals in the world concluded Israel's retention of Western Samaria was a military necessity for Israel."

Entire document for download here.

Below are parts of the document, obtained exclusively by Arutz Sheva: