On Thursday, Senator Tom Cotton (R‑AR) introduced a bill in the Senate to require all official U.S. documents and materials to use the historically accurate term “Judea and Samaria” instead of the “West Bank.”
Referring to Judea and Samaria as the ‘West Bank’ is a slap in the face to historical truth.
It’s time to call this region by its rightful name and stop playing into anti-Israel propaganda.https://t.co/tYwYMZkGMJ
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) December 5, 2024
The bill, titled the “Retiring the Egregious Confusion Over the Genuine Name of Israel’s Zone of Influence by Necessitating Government-use of Judea and Samaria (RECOGNIZING Judea and Samaria) Act,” matched legislation in the House sponsored by Reps. Claudia Tenney (R‑NY), Randy Weber (R‑TX) and Anthony D’Esposito (R‑NY).
CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
“The Jewish people’s legal and historic rights to Judea and Samaria goes back thousands of years. The U.S. should stop using the politically charged term West Bank to refer to the biblical heartland of Israel,” Cotton stated.
“The Israeli people have an undeniable and indisputable historical and legal claim over Judea and Samaria, and at this critical moment in history, the United States must reaffirm this,” Tenney echoed. “This bill reaffirms Israel’s rightful claim to its territory. I remain committed to defending the integrity of the Jewish state and fully supporting Israel’s sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.”
The bill states that the U.S. government should “refer to the land annexed by Israel from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War by its historical names of ‘Judea and Samaria,’ with the land south of Jerusalem being considered ‘Judea’ and the land north of Jerusalem being considered ‘Samaria.’”
The term “West Bank” only came into common usage after the 1948 Israeli War of Independence, while the term “Samaria” dates back at least 2,000 years. The great historian Flavius Josephus wrote, “Now as to the country of Samaria, it lies between Judea and Galilee.”
As for Judea, Josephus explained, “In the limits of Samaria and Judea lies the village Anuath, which is also named Borceos. This is the northern boundary of Judea. The southern parts of Judea, if they be measured lengthways, are bounded by a Village adjoining to the confines of Arabia; the Jews that dwell there call it Jordan. However, its breadth is extended from the river Jordan to Joppa.”
Josephus also explained how Jerusalem was central in Judea, writing, “The city Jerusalem is situated in the very middle; on which account some have, with sagacity enough, called that city the Navel of the country. Nor indeed is Judea destitute of such delights as come from the sea, since its maritime places extend as far as Ptolemais: it was parted into eleven portions, of which the royal city Jerusalem was the supreme, and presided over all the neighboring country, as the head does over the body.”
Virtually all of the events in the Old Testament occurred in Judea and Samaria; Hebron is considered the burial place of the Biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and where King David was crowned; Shiloh was where the Tabernacle rested for roughly 370 years; Joseph, who became the Egyptian pharaoh’s right-hand man, is buried in Shechem; Elon Moreh is where the Bible says God promised the Land of Israel to Abraham; and David fought Goliath in the Valley of Elah. These are just some of the Jewish biblical connections to Judea and Samaria.