US senator introduces bill to redefine occupied West Bank as 'Judea and Samaria'

U.S. Senator Tom Cotton introduced a bill in the Senate to eliminate federal use of the term West Bank and implement the use of Judea and Samaria, saying the terminology fits Israel's historical and biblical claims to this territory.

Judea and Samaria is the Israeli term for the occupied West Bank.

The bill mirrors a bill introduced earlier this year by Reps. Claudia Tenney, Randy Weber and Anthony DEsposito.

If passed, the measure would remove all references to the West Bank from U.S. government documents, replacing them with the biblical name.

The Jewish people's legal and historical rights to Judea and Samaria date back thousands of years. The United States should stop using the politically charged term West Bank to refer to Israel's biblical heartland, Cotton said in a statement.

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This decision comes against a backdrop of growing international criticism of Israeli policy in the occupied territories. In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of the West Bank illegal under international law, calling into question the legitimacy of Israeli settlements, which are now home to nearly 700,000 Israeli settlers.

The UN has documented a sharp increase in violence, with nearly 1,000 Palestinians killed in the West Bank since 2022 due to Israeli military raids and settler attacks.

Supporters of the bill say it strengthens U.S. support for Israel — and its settlement activities — a position long held by Republican donors such as Miriam Adelson, who has provided significant financial support to Republican Party campaigns .

In February, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed that settlement expansion in the West Bank undermined Israel's security and contradicted U.S. policy, which traditionally supports a two-state solution. But little has been done by the United States to stop Israeli settlement construction, aside from a handful of sanctions against individual settlers.

“A positive vote for this bill erases the existence of Palestinians… Yes, it's true, Palestinians also have the right to exist”

-Rashid Tlaib, Michigan

The origins of this legislative effort can be traced back to earlier Republican initiatives.

Rep. Tenney introduced the Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act in February, which sought to update existing U.S. legislation, such as the Foreign Assistance Act, to replace the West Bank with Judea and Samaria.

The Israeli people have an undeniable and indisputable historical and legal right to Judea and Samaria. At this critical moment in history, the United States must reaffirm that, Tenney said.

Israeli claims to the West Bank, captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, have been a flashpoint for decades.

While the Oslo Accords of the 1990s granted Palestinians limited autonomy in parts of the territory, the situation has deteriorated significantly.

The recent surge in violence, following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and the subsequent war on Gaza, has intensified tensions, with human rights groups viewing 2023 as the he deadliest year for Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank.

The Cotton bill reflects a broader Republican agenda of unconditionally supporting Israel while ignoring Palestinian self-determination.

As Cotton prepares to chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee under the new Trump administration, the legislation signals a significant shift in U.S. policy in the Middle East.

A growing wave

In September, the US House of Representatives passed a bill designating products from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as originating from Israel. This bill was also supported by Tenney, who was behind the House bill to rename the occupied West Bank.

The bill, titled the “Anti-BDS Labeling Act,” solidified a Trump-era policy that critics say undermines Palestinian territorial claims recognized by the U.N. and supports annexation efforts of Israel while directly targeting the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. send a clear message against those who defend the human rights of Palestinians.

House of Representatives passes bill to label products from occupied West Bank settlements as “Made in Israel”

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This policy, introduced by then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2020, was seen by some as pushing the envelope further than Israel's own efforts. Today, it is poised to become permanent U.S. law.

The bill passed 231-189 and received support from 16 Democrats, including some of the party's most pro-Israel members.

It demands that products from the occupied West Bank and Gaza no longer be labeled together but separately, thereby erasing recognition of their unified identity. Products would say either “West Bank” or “Gaza,” rather than “West Bank and Gaza.”

The proposal further stipulates that products from the majority of the occupied West Bank will be labeled as Product of Israel or Made in Israel.

Critics have warned that the legislation complicates efforts to support Palestinian rights by making it harder to boycott products from illegal Israeli settlements.

Opponents, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), condemned the bill as a step toward ethnic cleansing, saying: A yes vote for this bill erases the existence of Palestinians.

Yes, it's true: Palestinians also have the right to exist, she added.

Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, highlighted the troubling tendency of conservative lawmakers to incite hostility toward Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians. She pointed to a recent hearing in which Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) echoed racist sentiments, telling Arab-American expert Maya Berry she should go into hiding. [her] head in a bag.

The provisions of this bill, Mr. President, carry hateful and discriminatory implications, Tlaib said. We must unite against this and vote no.

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