The Borders of Destiny

From A Psychohistory of Zionism by Jay Y. Gonen, Mason/Charter, New York 1975, p. 193-4.

Not all Israelis are aware of the connection between Arab fear of Zionist expansion and the traditional Jewish vagueness concerning territorial claims. The lack of definition of what the borders of the new Israeli state are, or should be, is not something new. When I was a schoolboy in Haifa at the age of ten, before the State of Israel was established, I was taught geography. The textbook as well as my teacher were drawing the distinction between present borders and borders of destiny (gvulot ye'ud). The gvulot ye'ud included Transjordan and reached Mesopotamia. The textbook, the teacher, and the students were all glossing it over somewhat mechanically. It was the kind of distinction students memorize because it may come up in an examination, not something which one puts his heart into and tries to figure out. Thus, I cannot recall anyone's touching upon the delicate issues involved in this distinction. Destiny borders by virtue of what destiny, religious or national? What about the Arabs? What means, peaceful or not, will be used to achieve borders of destiny? Such questions were never discussed. Indeed, the way this geography was taught inculcated in the pupils, including myself, an insensitive, defensive attitude toward the Arab question which had characterized the Zionist movement from the start. This teaching also served as an inconspicuous staking of a claim. Its mentality went something like this: The practicalities of reaching the borders of destiny will be handled more concretely when the time is ripe. For the time being, let us not forget the borders of destiny, but let us not talk too much about it either.