What are the 1967 borders?
The borders of Israel have been controversial since the United States, Great Britain and other winners of World War II got together to redraw the map of Europe and the Middle East.
In 1947, the United Nations carved up the former British protectorate of Palestine into two sections and created a religious nation to protect Jews who had been targeted by European anti-Semitism and the Nazis in the Holocaust.
However, the formation of a Jewish state displaced the people who were living in the area, many of whom were Arab and Muslim. The surrounding Arab nations immediately declared war on the new country.
The 1967 war began when Israel, fearing an invasion, launched a preemptive attack on Egypt. In quick succession, the Israelis seized Gaza and the Sinai from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank of the Jordan River and East Jerusalem from Jordan, a monumental victory for Israel and a catastrophe to Arabs.
Over time, Israel made peace with Egypt and Jordan, and gave back some of what it captured. At the same time, however, more than 300,000 Jewish settlers created walled-off settlements in Palestinian land as a political and religious attempt to expand the land they claim God promised them.