President Donald Trump’s demand for control over Greenland appears, at first glance, to be far removed from the spectrum of Israel’s national interests. In practice, however, it is of immense importance to Israel.
Since the end of the Six-Day War, the international community has consistently upheld the principle that the territories captured during the war constitute a kind of deposit that Israel would be required to return to their owners once “peace comes to the land.” United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 gave explicit expression to this notion by emphasizing “the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war.” In its wake, almost every US president initiated peace plans based on Israeli withdrawal from the territories.
President Trump’s demand to obtain sovereignty over, or at least military control of, Greenland – which initially met with ridicule and derision – now appears far more tangible. This point is of great importance to Israel. The range of risks facing Israel is far greater than that confronting the United States. In short, Israel now has a “strong rope” to cling to should it seek to realize claims of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, as well as over territories seized during the current war in the Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon, and Somaliland.
The most far-reaching implication of the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro is the prioritization of US security needs over the principles of international law. From Israel’s perspective, this development significantly expands its military freedom of maneuver in wartime situations – freedom that has been constrained, to varying degrees, by legal considerations.
Finally, the establishment of the “Board of Peace,” intended to address the regulation of crisis in the Gaza Strip (and, subsequently, in other conflict zones worldwide), may free Israel from the constraints imposed on it by the United Nations, thereby further expanding its strategic room for maneuver.