Social media accounts have circulated information attributed to Israeli Channel 14, claiming that the new U.S. administration plans to replace the term “West Bank” with “Judea and Samaria” in American dealings. These accounts posted the following text:
“Channel 14: The new Trump administration will eliminate the term ‘West Bank’ in all its dealings, instead referring to it as ‘Judea and Samaria,’ based on the belief that it is land belonging to the Jewish people.”
Kashif’s Israeli-Hebrew affairs team verified the claim and found it to be inaccurate. A report published on Israeli website “Srugim” on 1/1/2025, stated that just days before Donald Trump’s inauguration as U.S. President, an American lobby supporting settlements in “Judea and Samaria” would be launched on 15,/1/2025. This initiative, led by Congresswoman Claudia Tenney and Yossi Dagan, head of the Council of Settlements in the West Bank, aims to promote U.S. support for settlements and encourage the use of “Judea and Samaria” instead of “West Bank” in official documents.
Dagan described this move as historic and called on the Israeli government to capitalize on the new U.S. administration’s support.
Kashif’s team contacted the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs to inquire about the circulated information. In response, the office referenced a statement by U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller during a press briefing on 19/11/2024 November where he said:
“The administration has the – an incoming administration has the ability – I don’t think this is a secret – to use the terms that they feel are appropriate. But we have made clear that we believe the West Bank is properly referred to as the West Bank.”
The team also reviewed the full transcript of the 19/11/2024, U.S. State Department press briefing, where the following exchange occurred:
Journalist: In the new administration there is, like, a diplomat, Mr. Huckabee. His own belief is that West Bank is called Yehuda and Samaria, not West Bank. And here I want to ask about the U.S., like, foreign policy faith – like, the thing that you teach it for this intern. Is this area called West Bank or called Yehuda and Samaria? Because I understand this country is, like – the reference is, like, separating church and authority, that you’re secular country. So your reference is, like, old testimony, Torah, or, like, the international law and the U.S. resolution? Like, we want to make sure, like, there is a —
MR MILLER: Can I just ask you to get to the question?
Journalist: Yeah, yeah. Like, the question – yeah – this question: In the U.S. policy, it’s called West Bank or Yehuda and Samaria?
MR MILLER: You have heard me repeatedly refer to the West Bank as the West Bank; you have heard the Secretary refer to it as the West Bank —
Journalist: Will it change?
MR MILLER: — and the President refer to it as the West Bank. Incoming —
Journalist: Will it change?
MR MILLER: Hold on. An incoming administration has the ability to make their
Journalist: To change it.
MR MILLER: To what?
Journalist: To change it to Yehuda and Samaria?
MR MILLER: The administration has the – an incoming administration has the ability – I don’t think this is a secret – to use the terms that they feel are appropriate. But we have made clear that we believe the West Bank is properly referred to as the West Bank.
Mike Huckabee, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Israel, reiterated his opposition to the two-state solution and the use of terms like “West Bank” and “occupation” in an interview with Channel 7 on 15/11/2024. He stated:
“I cannot say something I do not believe in. I have never been willing to use the term West Bank; there is no such thing. I speak of Judea and Samaria.”
On 29/2/2024, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney introduced a bill titled “Recognition of Judea and Samaria Act,” which would require all U.S. official documents and materials to replace “West Bank” with “Judea and Samaria.” However, the bill stalled after being referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Additionally, on 5/12/2024, Republican Senator Tom Cotton introduced legislation in the Senate that would prohibit the U.S. federal government from using the term “West Bank” and mandate the use of “Judea and Samaria” instead.
| Spouters of Verification | Sources of Claim |
| US DEPARATMENT OF STATE srugim المكتب الأمريكي للشؤون الفلسطينية US Office of Palestinian Affairs الجزيرة Aljazira tenney house gov شبكة راية الإعلامية Raya FM NEW YORK POST | بيت لحم الحدث + Bayt lahm alhadath Ramallah News – رام الله الإخباري Muayad Jumah Rimawi العموم نيوز Aleumum niuz قناة الجزيرة Qanaat aljazira عبدالحكيم النسور Eabdalhakim alnusur خبر عاجل Khabar eajil Hilmi Asmar تلفزيون نابلس وكالة معا |