The Green Line: Israel's Pre-1967 Armistice Frontier
The Green Line is the demarcation drawn by the 1949 Armistice Agreements that ended the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, serving as Israel's de facto border until the 1967 Six-Day War. It was named for the green ink used on the maps. It is an armistice line, not a recognized international border, but it remains the baseline reference for distinguishing Israel proper from the territories captured in 1967.
The Green Line is the set of demarcation lines established by the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its neighbors — Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria — following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The name comes from the green ink used to draw the line on the negotiating maps. From 1949 until the 1967 Six-Day War, it functioned as Israel's de facto boundary. Legal character The 1949 agreements explicitly stated they were not creating permanent borders. The Egyptian-Israeli agreement, for example, specified that the demarcation line was "not to be construed in any sense as a political or territorial boundary." The Green Line is therefore an armistice line, not an internationally recognized international border. Israel formally maintains that the line carries no legal significance as a frontier. Significance after 1967 Despite its provisional legal status, the Green Line became the practical dividing line of the conflict. Territories Israel captured beyond it in 1967 — the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights — were administered separately from pre-1967 Israel. When diplomats and international bodies speak of the "pre-1967 borders" or "1967 lines" as a baseline for a two-state solution, they are referring to the Green Line. The Israeli settlements at the heart of the international dispute are, by definition, communities built on the far side of it. See Israeli Settler: Definition, Geography, and Legal Status.