31°45′N35°00′E / 31.750°N 35.000°E /31.750; 35.000
Judea and Samaria Area אֵזוֹר יְהוּדָה וְשׁוֹמְרוֹן يَهُودَا وَالسَّامِرَةِ | |
|---|---|
.svg) Map of Israel and theIsraeli-occupied territories, with the Judea and Samaria Area highlighted in red with hatching | |
 Interactive map of Judea and Samaria Area | |
| Control |  Israel Palestine |
| Region | West Bank |
| Named after | Judea,Samaria |
| Capital | Ariel |
| Area | |
• Total | 5,878 km2 (2,270 sq mi) |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 529,455 residents (Israeli citizens only)[1] |
TheJudea and Samaria Area (Hebrew:אֵזוֹר יְהוּדָה וְשׁוֹמְרוֹן,romanized: Ezor Yehuda VeShomron;[a]Arabic:يهودا والسامرة,romanized: Yahūda wa-s-Sāmara) is an administrative division used byIsrael to refer to the entireWest Bank, which has beenoccupied by Israel since 1967, but excludesEast Jerusalem (seeJerusalem Law).[2][3] Its area is split into 165Palestinian "islands" that are under total or partial civil administration by thePalestinian National Authority (PNA), and a contiguous territory ofArea C containing 230Israeli settlements into whichIsraeli law is "pipelined".
While the area is widely recognized internationally as a part ofPalestine, some Israeli authorities group it together with thedistricts of Israel proper, largely for statistical purposes.[3][4][5]
The Judea and Samaria Area covers a portion of the territory designated by thebiblical names ofJudea andSamaria. Both names are tied to the ancientIsraelite kingdoms: the former corresponds to part of theKingdom of Judah, also known as the Southern Kingdom; and the latter corresponds to part of theKingdom of Israel, also known as the Northern Kingdom. In 1947, the terminology was noted by theUnited Nations in thePartition Plan for Palestine with the statement: "the boundary of the hill country of Samaria and Judea starts on theJordan River..."[6] The modern term used by the Israeli government does not map precisely with the geography of the biblical areas, which in tradition extended beyond the West Bank to includeBeersheba and Caesarea.[7]
In 1967, theSix-Day War saw Israeli forces capture theJordanian-annexed West Bank, marking the beginning of theongoing Israeli occupation of the territory. Following its capture, the right-wing Israelis began to refer to the territories by theirHebrew-language names and argued fortheir integration into Israel on historical, religious, nationalist, and security grounds.[8][9] In December 1967, theIsraeli 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, whenMenachem Begin, a proponent of extending Israel's sovereignty to the region, was elected as Israel's sixth prime minister.[12][11][13][14]
The nameJudea, when used inJudea and Samaria, refers to all of the area to the south ofJerusalem, includingGush Etzion andHar Hevron. The nameSamaria, on the other hand, refers to all of the area to the north of Jerusalem. In 1980,East Jerusalem (a part of theWest Bank) waseffectively 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 theIsraeli political spectrum. Left-wingers, who take the view that the territory should be evacuated undera 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 theDerry/Londonderry name dispute inNorthern Ireland).
The Judea and Samaria Area is administered by theIsrael Defense ForcesCentral Command, andmilitary law is applied. The incumbent chief of Central Command isAlufAvi Bluth. The Administrative is theCivil Administration.
The future status of the region is a key factor in the ongoingIsraeli–Palestinian conflict.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, adopted in November 1967, after Israel captured the region fromJordan in theSix-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?]
The West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza Strip are considered occupiedPalestinian territories by the United Nations, the United States,[16][17] theInternational Court of Justice, theEuropean Union,[18] and by non-governmental organizations such asAmnesty International,[19]Human Rights Watch,[20] andB'Tselem.[21][22] TheSupreme Court of Israel has considered the section of the West Bank which excludes East Jerusalem to beIsraeli-occupied territories.[23]
On 13 May 2012, a bill to extend Israeli law to theIsraeli settlements in the Judea and Samaria Area initiated byKnesset memberMiri Regev (Likud) first approved by the majority of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation was rejected in a second round of votes after prime ministerBenjamin 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, calledLevy 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 theFourth Hague Convention of 1907 is the basis of the Levy committee's opinion.[25]
The area is further divided into eight military administrative regions: Menashe (Jenin area), HaBik'a (Jordan Valley),Shomron (Shechem area, known in Arabic asNablus), Efrayim (Tulkarm area), Binyamin (Ramallah/al-Bireh area), Maccabim (Maccabim area),Etzion (Bethlehem area) andYehuda (Hebron area).
| Cities | Local Councils | Regional Councils |
|---|---|---|
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.
[...] 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.
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.
[...] "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.
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.
Places adjacent to Judea and Samaria Area | |
|---|---|
| Cities |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Regional committee | ||
| Regional councils | ||
| Local councils | ||
| See also | ||
