US Sen Cotton introduces bill to replace 'West Bank' with 'Judea and Samaria' in federal documents
United States Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced new legislation to the Senate that will eliminate the use of the term “West Bank” in all federal documents and materials when referring to Judea and Samaria, according to a statement released by his office on Thursday.
The bill was introduced as the "Retiring the Egregious Confusion Over the Genuine Name of Israel’s Zone of Influence by Necessitating Government-use of Judea and Samaria Act," or “RECOGNIZING Judea and Samaria Act.”
The bill was simultaneously brought before the U.S. House of Representatives by Claudia Tenney (R-New York).
“This bill would require the use of historically accurate terminology and align U.S. policy language with the geographical and cultural significance of the region,” Cotton's statement read.
He also said, “The Jewish people’s legal and historic rights to Judea and Samaria go back thousands of years. The US should stop using the politically charged term West Bank to refer to the biblical heartland of Israel.”
Tenney added, "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 also includes orders to remove the term “West Bank” from several previous laws and replace the phrase with “Judea and Samaria,” including but not limited to "The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961," the "Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986," and the "Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act."
The term “West Bank” was initially adopted by the Kingdom of Jordan after the 1948 War of Independence to describe territories under their control west of the Jordan River. Israel recaptured those territories during the Six-Day War in 1967 and has since governed them using the biblical names Judea and Samaria.
The phrase ["West Bank"] is often seen as a pseudonym for “Palestine.”
Israeli territorial claims have been a partisan issue in the United States for many years, with Republicans generally using “Judea and Samaria” to refer to the region, while many Democrats continue to call it the “West Bank.”
David Friedman, previous U.S. ambassador to Israel during the first Trump administration, praised the bill proposed by Senator Cotton on Thursday, saying, “Thank you, Tom Cotton, for standing with Israel, recognizing its biblical heritage and supporting one Jewish state.”
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
