No to Tom Cotton

US Senator Tom Cotton has introduced a Senate bill that seeks to eliminate the federal use of the term “West Bank” and instead implement the use of “Judea and Samaria”, claiming the terminology aligns with Israel’s historical and biblical claims to the territory. 

“The Jewish people’s legal and historic rights to Judea and Samaria goes back thousands of years. The U.S. should stop using the politically charged term West Bank to refer to the biblical heartland of Israel,” Cotton said in a statement.

The move comes amid growing international criticism of Israel’s policies in the occupied territories. In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of the West Bank illegal under international law, challenging the legitimacy of Israeli settlements, which now house nearly 700,000 Israeli settlers.