o the editor:

In response to the June 14 letter by David Burress, supporting a boycott of Israel until it agrees to “narrower borders,” I might suggest he consult an atlas and a few military histories of the Israeli-Arab conflict.

After he discovers that Israel is the size of Massachusetts, surrounding by a hostile Arab/Muslim region the size of the rest of the U.S., stretching from Pakistan to Morocco, that has for seven decades advocated the elimination of the state of Israel, I would inquire of him just how narrow the borders of Israel should shrink to. Would the waves of the Mediterranean — which would satisfy the stated aims of Israel’s Arab neighbors — be sufficient?

By the way, the Israelis accepted the U.S. mandated “narrow borders” in 1948 and were promptly attacked by the armies of seven Arab nations and by the Palestinians in their midst. Israel had to repel or preempt further Arab assaults in 1956, 1967 and 1973. In 1973, if Israel had not been in possession at the time of the wider borders gained by their victory in 1967, the state of Israel would have been overrun within days by the Egyptian and Syrian onslaught. Only the breathing room won by Israel in the Six-Day War in the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights gave the Israelis time to regroup, counterattack and survive.