Wednesday, 20 U.S. lawmakers participated in the historic launch of the U.S. Congressional Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus.
Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) launched the caucus with several other members of Congress, Samaria Governor Yossi Dagan, and other Jewish and Christian leaders. Relatives of hostages still being held in Gaza were also in attendance.
“The Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus is a group of dedicated members committed to raising awareness and support for the historical, strategic, and cultural importance of Judea and Samaria to both Israel and the United States,” Tenney said in a statement. “Together, we will work with President [Donald] Trump, Secretary of State [Marco] Rubio, and Ambassador [Mike] Huckabee to support communities in the region while opposing the establishment of a hostile state that promotes terrorism in Judea and Samaria. I am eager to work with my colleagues in the Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus to strengthen the vital bond between the United States and this pivotal region.”
Tenney is one of Israel’s most avid supporters in Congress. Last year, during the 118th Congress, she introduced the Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act. The bill requires all official United States documents and materials to use the term “Judea and Samaria” instead of the West Bank when referring to those regions.
The terms Judea and Samaria date back to the ancient Israeli kingdoms of Judah and Samaria. In 1967, after the Six-Day War, Israel reclaimed Judea and Samaria from Jordan. Because the Palestinian Authority disputes Israeli sovereignty in those territories, the international community calls Judea and Samaria the West Bank instead.
“Names matter,” Chris Gacek, senior fellow for Regulatory Affairs at Family Research Council, told The Washington Stand. “‘West Bank’ sounds nice and clinical — straight out of the geography department. But it’s the shapeless lack of content that allows it to be molded into an ahistorical political weapon against the history of the Jewish people in their (and our) Holy Land.”
Tenny has also argued that such a term delegitimizes Israel’s historical claim to the land.
“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 stressed last year when introducing her bill. “I remain committed to defending the integrity of the Jewish state and fully supporting Israel’s sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.”
Under the first Trump administration, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States would formally recognize Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. But the Biden administration reversed that position under Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, condemning Israel’s decision to expand its settlements in Judea and Samaria.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins was also in attendance at the launch. In 2013, he helped organize and lead the first official congressional delegation into Judea and Samaria.
“Whether intentional or not, the term ‘West Bank’ has become a highly divisive label, fueling geopolitical and military tensions in the Middle East,” Perkins told TWS. “It is time to recognize that this region — comprising roughly 20% of Israel’s heartland — should be called by its historical names: Judea and Samaria, not the ‘West Bank.’ The United States should lead in accurately describing this territory, where nearly 80% of the biblical record’s events took place.”
Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas), who was part of the event, told the crowd, “Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian values, not West Bank Christian values.” In a conversation with Perkins the following day on “Washington Watch,” he was adamant, “We need to make sure … that biblical Judea, biblical Samaria, absolutely stays in control by the Israelis, by the Jewish people. It is their homeland. God gave it to them. And any attempt to make it anything other than that, in my opinion, is a non-starter.”
“We both know what’s at stake,” Weber insisted. “We’ve seen it up close and personal firsthand. So … the terminology does matter. Words do matter.” Especially, he continued, because of how “it’s viewed by our federal government, by the State Department.” At the end of the day, the Texan concluded, “Whoever blesses Israel, [God] will bless. Whoever curses Israel, he will curse. We know where we want to be in that scenario. So … we’re going to be working exactly toward that end.”
