Rav Ovadiah first says that according to the Ramban there is a mitzva even in our times to capture EY and therefore we cannot be concerned with the mitzva of Pikuach Nefesh because it is assumed that if we have to capture the land it will involve endangering our lives and the Torah commanded us to do so anyway. But then he retreats [not the type you take to the mountains] and says that according to the Rambam there is no mitzva and even according to the Ramban our times it would be forbidden to forcibly take land. So he says that all of the land we captured [in 1967] against the will of the nations must be returned for peace.
There is a fundamental problem with this approach. Namely, if the problem is that we are rebelling against the nations [one of the ג' שבועות is שלא ימרדו באומות] then even if there is no threat to Jewish lives we must give away the land. So why is the discussion about Pikuach Nefesh?? The שבועה of שלא ימרדו באומות applies regardless??!
Moreover, if we accept Rav Ovadiah's psak we would have to give away the OLD CITY [I love the Old City and lived there for over 20 years so it is a sensitive topic by me...] and all areas beyond the green line where tens of thousands of Jews live today [including the beautiful, scenic Givat Zeev where I am writing from].
The truth is that the שבועה of שלא ימרדו באומות applies only to foreign lands but not to our ancestral homeland. And we also have no problem of לעלות ביד חזקה because the nations gave us permission to have our own State [unless one argues that we took the areas beyond the green line ביד חזקה but it seems that they were originally given to the Jews and were taken away in 1948, so it is really legally ours and there is no יד חזקה when we hold it. But anyway - many hold that the ג' שבועות are not a halachically binding concept and you most certainly won't find it in the Rambam's code of law].
There is a beautiful letter of Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk where he says that the ג' שבועות no longer apply now that the goyim [in San Remo] gave us permission to come and come we should!!!
PLEASE READ!! [That is why I copied it:-)].
