MK Simcha Rothman, head of Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, at the Knesset, March 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
This follows a similar bill in the US by Republican senator Tom Cotton that would ban the term ‘West Bank’ in favor of Judea and Samaria in official US documents.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
Israeli MK Simcha Rothman proposed a bill that would replace the term “the West Bank” with “Judea and Samaria” in legislation and official documents.
This follows a similar bill in the US by Republican senator Tom Cotton that would ban the term “West Bank” in favor of Judea and Samaria in official US documents.
“The West Bank” and “Judea and Samaria” refer to the area West of the Jordan River that Israel conquered from Jordan during the 1967 war.
The bill’s preamble states, “Judea and Samaria are integral parts of the historic homeland of the Jewish people. Some of the most pivotal events in our history took place in these regions.”
“In contrast, the term’ West Bank,’ which emerged during a period of foreign rule, reflects a colonialist viewpoint that overlooks the profound historical connection of the Jewish people to this land.”
The preamble further states that the bill “aims to regulate the use of the term ‘Judea and Samaria’ in Israeli law, replacing other terms that refer to the same geographic area. This shift is in line with the broader effort to strengthen Israel’s connection to the region and uphold the historical rights of the Jewish people.”
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) introduced a bill that would ban the term “West Bank.”
Instead, if the bill becomes a law, it would require all official US documents to use the historically accurate term “Judea and Samaria.”
The bill’s full name is the Retiring the Egregious Confusion Over the Genuine Name of Israel’s Zone of Influence by Necessitating Government of Judea and Samaria (RECOGNIZING Judea and Samaria) Act.
“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,” Cotton added.
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