While its area is internationally recognized as a part of the Palestinian territories, some Israeli authorities group it together with the districts of Israel proper, largely for statistical purposes.[4][5][6] The term Judea and Samaria serves as another name for the West Bank in Israel.
Terminology
Biblical significance
The Judea and Samaria Area covers a portion of the territory designated by the biblical names of Judea and Samaria. Both names are tied to the ancient Israelite kingdoms: the former corresponds to part of the Kingdom of Judah, also known as the Southern Kingdom; and the latter corresponds to part of the Kingdom of Samaria, also known as the Northern Kingdom. In 1947, the terminology was noted by the United Nations in the Partition Plan for Palestine with the statement: "the boundary of the hill country of Samaria and Judea starts on the Jordan River..."[7]
1967 Arab–Israeli War
In 1967, the Six-Day War saw Israeli forces capture the Jordanian-annexed West Bank, marking the beginning of the ongoing Israeli occupation of the territory. Following its capture, the right-wing Israelis began to refer to the territories by their Hebrew-language names and argued for their integration into Israel on historical, religious, nationalist, and security grounds.[8][9] In December 1967, the Israeli Military Governorate issued an order that stated: "the term 'Judea and Samaria region' shall be identical in meaning for all purposes to the term 'the West Bank Region'".[10] By early 1968, "Judea and Samaria" had been formally adopted in official usage.[11] However, the phrase was rarely used until 1977, when Menachem Begin, a proponent of extending Israel's sovereignty to the region, was elected as Israel's sixth prime minister.[12][11][13][14]
The name Judea, when used in Judea and Samaria, refers to all of the area to the south of Jerusalem, including Gush Etzion and Har Hevron. The name Samaria, on the other hand, refers to all of the area to the north of Jerusalem. In 1980, East Jerusalem (a part of the West Bank) was effectively annexed by Israel and has since been under civilian administration; it is thus excluded from the administrative structure of the Judea and Samaria Area.
The names "West Bank" (הַגָּדָה הַמַּעֲרָבִית, HaGadah HaMaʽaravit) or, alternatively, "the Territories" (השטחים, HaShtahim) are also current in Israeli usage. Generally, preference for one term over the other indicates the speaker's position on the Israeli political spectrum. Left-wingers, who take the view that the territory should be evacuated under a peace agreement, prefer "West Bank"; conversely, right-wingers, who take the view that the territory should come under Israeli administration permanently, advocate the usage of "Judea and Samaria" (similar to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute in Northern Ireland).
United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, adopted in November 1967, after Israel captured the region from Jordan in the Six-Day War, lists as its first principle "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the area can live in security" and called for the "withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict" in conjunction with the "termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force".[15][non-primary source needed][original research?]
On 13 May 2012, a bill to extend Israeli law to the Israeli settlements in the Judea and Samaria Area initiated by Knesset member Miri Regev (Likud) first approved by the majority of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation was rejected in a second round of votes after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed his ministers to vote against the bill. Extending Israeli law to the settlements would mean a de facto annexation of the settlements to Israel.[24] In July 2012, a government-commissioned report from a three-member committee, called Levy Report, asserted, based on a number of reasons, that there is no legal basis under international law to refer to Judea and Samaria as "occupied territory". Article 43 of the Fourth Hague Convention of 1907 is the basis of the Levy committee's opinion.[25]
^Study On The Geographic Coverage Of Israeli Data "All references in the Statistical Abstract refer to "6 districts", which thus excludes the Israeli settlements in the West Bank as a District. In the Key to Codes for Maps, though, "Judea and Samaria" (West Bank) is listed under the heading "District", though the maps themselves do not delineate or list Judea and Samaria (West Bank) as a district. Nevertheless, while the place of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank in the geographic hierarchy is unclear, statistics provided at the District level are normally available for the "Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria" as well."
^Emma Playfair (1992). International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories: Two Decades of Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Oxford University Press. p. 41. On 17 December 1967, the Israeli military government issued an order stating that "the term 'Judea and Samaria region' shall be identical in meaning for all purposes . .to the term 'the West Bank Region'". This change in terminology, which has been followed in Israeli official statements since that time, reflected a historic attachment to these areas and rejection of a name that was seen as implying Jordanian sovereignty over them.
^ abShlomo Gazit (2003). Trapped Fools: Thirty Years of Israeli Policy in the Territories. Routledge. p. 162. [...] the Likud Government was not satisfied with the name 'Administered Territories'. Even though the name 'Judea and Samaria' had been officially adopted as early as the beginning of 1968 instead of the 'West Bank', it has hardly been used until 1977.
^Ian Lustick (2002). The Riddle of Nationalism: The Dialectic of Religion and Nationalism in the Middle East. Logos, vol. 1, no 3. pp. 18–44. The terms "occupied territory" or "West Bank" were forbidden in news reports. Television and radio journalists were banned from initiating interviews with Arabs who recognized the PLO as their representative.
^Myron J. Aronoff (1991). Israeli Visions and Divisions: Cultural Change and Political Conflict. Transaction Publishers. p. 10. [...] "Judea and Samaria", the biblical terms that the Likud government succeeded in substituting for what had previously been called by many the West Bank, the occupied territories, or simply the territories. The successful gaining of the popular acceptance of these terms was a prelude to gaining popular acceptance of the government's settlement policies.
^Ran HaCohen (1992). Influence of the Middle East Peace Process on the Hebrew Language. Undoing and Redoing Corpus Planning, Michael G. Clyne (ed.). pp. 385–414, 397. During a short period immediately after the 1967 war, the official term employed was 'the Occupied Territories' (ha-shetahim ha-kevushim). It was soon replaced by 'the Administered Territories' (ha-shetahim ha-muhzakim) and then by the (Biblical) Hebrew geographical terms "Judea and Samaria". The latter were officially adopted and successfully promoted by the governments (since 1977) and are still the official terms in use.
