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Source: https://jcfa.org/defensible-borders-are-an-american-interest/
The Logic of Forward Defense after Oct. 7
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) U.S. Army Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Ernest C. Audino - Strategic depth provides adequate reaction time between sensing a threat and acting on it. And it provides sufficient land area to deploy and array friendly forces before committing them to combat. Without the high ground of Judea, Samaria, and the Golan Heights, Israel is incredibly narrow - too narrow to permit the swift internal deployment of overwhelming combat power against any compelling external threat. The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff reached this conclusion in the late 1960s and their judgment has only been reinforced by the technological developments of the intervening half-century. Once-adequate strategic depth is no longer adequate. The Israeli border is less than 30 km. from the Litani River in Lebanon. In the 23 years between the Israeli withdrawal from the southern Lebanon security zone and the Oct. 7 war, the area south of the river became saturated with Hizbullah missiles, artillery, mortars, anti-tank guided missiles, rockets, and drones. Every weapon was emplaced for one purpose: to kill Israeli civilians. Re-securing this area as a buffer is therefore imperative. The same logic applies on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. During a 28-year career, the writer served as Deputy Director of Operations, Readiness, and Mobilization at U.S. Army Headquarters.