It is simple geography: there is no place in the world that is more in the middle of the crossroads than the Land of Israel. Connecting Africa, Asia, Europe and the Mediterranean, Israel is the thoroughfare for all kinds of travel. The “Levantine Corridor” funnels billions of animals annually, primarily birds and insects, with smaller-scale movements by mammals.
On the one hand, this is a great opportunity: living in the crossroads maximizes exposure between cultures and ideas. If the purpose of Judaism is to spread the core ideas of the Torah to the world, then there has been no better location for thousands of years. The location is a force multiplier for Jewish ideas and thought. Despite there being a mere 15 million Jews exist in a world, a mere 0.2% of the world’s population, Jews are always somehow in the middle of the interchange of ideas.
On the other hand, the land of Israel is essentially indefensible. As countless invasions and migrations for thousands of years have showed, there is little to stop an invader from any direction. There are no mountain ranges, no broad rivers (the Jordan is essentially a creek) or even impassable deserts.
Of course, lacking any natural defenses, and any substantive natural resources, most of the invaders over the last 4,000 years were really only passing through: to this day, “Alexander” is a popular Jewish name, to show appreciation for the fact that Alexander the Great, upon conquering the land, granted the Jews of Israel considerable autonomy. Every sensible invader immediately understands that it is silly to try to establish and secure boundaries in the middle of a crossroads.
There is a lesson in all this, I think. The purpose and function of Judaism was always to try to positively influence the world: we cannot do this from an isolated redoubt. We have to be in the middle of everything.
And I think there is a political element here as well: perhaps Israel’s physical borders are so hard to defend because political autonomy and power is not the point. Judaism’s mission is not the same as that of Zionism – to have a homeland like everyone else – but instead to maximize our positive impact on the world. We can do that anywhere we are free to live and serve G-d. But the choice of Canaan tells us that G-d has always had the broader mission in mind for us. As G-d told Avram when He chose the Land of Canaan:
“I will bless you; I will make your name great. And you shall be a blessing.”
The geography is no accident.