The first time Israel's boundaries were determined by the United Nations was when it adopted Resolution 181 on partition in 1947. In a series of defensive wars launched against Israel (the War of Independence and the Six-Day War in 1967), Israel captured additional territory it used later as a bargaining chip to reach peace agreements, or at least disengagement or non-belligerency agreements.

As part of the 1974 disengagement agreement, Israel returned territories captured in the 1967 and 1973 wars to Egypt and Syria.