House Committee Will Now Make Place Names ‘Judea and Samaria’ Mandatory

In 1950, the government of Jordan renamed the territory on the Western side of the Jordan River, that it had managed to hold onto in the 1948 war with Israel, as “the West Bank.” This was done in order to replace the toponyms “Judea and Samaria” that had been in continuous use in the Western world for 3500 years, in an attempt to efface the Jewish connection to the land that “Judea and Samaria” made obvious. This was similar to what the Romans had done in 135 A.D., following the suppression of the Bar Kochba revolt. As a way both to punish the Jews, and to efface the Jewish connection to what had then been called “Judaea,” the Romans renamed the whole area as “Syria Palestina,” or “Palestine.” And the place name “Palestine” stuck. In fact, it stuck so well the entire Western world started to call the area “Palestine.” In the same way, and for the same reasons, Jordan’s renaming of “Judea and Samaria” as “the West Bank” also stuck. It stuck so well, in fact, that most people believe that “the West Bank” was always the name of the territory indicated, and those who use “Judea and Samaria” must be wild-eyed Israeli “settlers” who, of course, are beyond the pale.

Now there is a growing support in this country to bring back into general circulation the venerable place names “Judea and Samaria.” The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Brian Mast, has now directed that in all of its proceedings, hearings, and official documents, the committee members should use the terms “Judea and Samaria” instead of “West Bank.” More on this welcome development can be found here “Mast directs Foreign Affairs Committee to refer to West Bank as Judea and Samaria,” by Marc Rod, Jewish Insider, February 27, 2025:

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL) instructed committee staff to refer to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria in all official documents and communications going forward, stating that Congress should “recognize Israel’s rightful claim to the cradle of Jewish civilization.”

The directive echoes legislation recently reintroduced in both chambers of Congress and the establishment of a new Friends of Judea and Samara caucus on the Hill, reflecting growing interest among some conservative lawmakers in recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the territory. A group of Republican lawmakers also explicitly called for U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank in a letter earlier this week.

Judea and Samaria is the biblical name of the territory, used by the Israeli government and preferred by some who favor Israeli annexation of the area and believe Israel has a historical and biblical right to control it….

Judea and Samaria are not just the “biblical” names of that territory; these place names have been in continuous use for 3500 years, not just by Jews, but by everyone in the Western world, right up until 1950, when the neologism “West Bank” was invented by Jordan.

Use of the place names “Judea and Samaria” reminds the world of, and reinforces the Jewish claim to, the land that the Jordanians renamed as the “West Bank” (a strange term, for the word “bank” normally applies to a riparian strip of land of equal width along a waterway, whereas the “West Bank” is applied to an ear-shaped territory), that the Arab and Muslim peoples successfully persuaded the world to accept. Now that acceptance is being challenged, beginning with those in Congress who support Israel’s claim, which is based both on 3500 years of Jewish history, and more recently, on the League of Nations’ Mandate for Palestine, which included all of the land “from the river to the sea” in what was planned to become the Jewish state.

Ambassador to Israel-designate Mike Huckabee has said that he believes the West Bank is rightfully and legally part of Israel and is not occupied, saying also, “There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria.”…

As a matter of history, Mike Huckabee is right.

President Donald Trump said during a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month that he would declare a U.S. position on West Bank annexation in the next four weeks.

Let’s hope Trump does not disappoint the many people in his own government, including a growing number of Republicans in Congress, including Senator Tom Cotton and Representative Brian Mast, his Ambassador to the U.N. Elise Stefanik and his Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who support Israel’s right to annex “Judea and Samaria,” for it was there, and not in Tel Aviv and Haifa, that Jewish history was made, beginning 3500 years ago, and which in modern times was included by the League of Nations in the Mandate for Palestine.

Those who are determined to rectify a historic wrong, by bringing back “Judea and Samaria” into common usage, should do much more than adopting those terms for use in this or that Congressional committee. The Republicans now have a majority in both the House and the Senate. They should pass a law making mandatory the use of “Judea and Samaria” instead of the “West Bank” in all government documents. The enemies of Israel will scream to high heaven, but so what? Articulate defenders of this change should conduct a media blitz, appearing on every conceivable news program, where they can recount the millennia-long history of the terms “Judea and Samaria,” and explain how in 1950, for propaganda reasons, “the West Bank” was concocted by Jordan to replace them. At the very least, such an effort will force the issue into the public arena, giving those who want “Judea and Samaria” to be brought back into common usage the chance to make their overwhelming case.

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