Judea and Samaria are regions of Israel deeply connected to the Jewish people historically and religiously. The term “Judea and Samaria” is often used collectively for two regions that are often together called “The West Bank.” Let’s take a closer look at this part of Israel and why it has caused so much controversy on the world stage.
A Quick Look at History
Most of the events of the Bible were written and took place in the Judea and Samaria region. Israel’s history in Judea and Samaria began more than 3500 years ago, when Abraham (then Abram) entered the Land. Genesis 12 and 13 record Abraham’s travels into the Land, first to Elon Moreh, then Bethel, before settling in Hebron where he remained. Another significant location is Shechem, where Jacob purchased land and lived for a time.
The descendants of Jacob lived in these regions before moving to Egypt during a time of famine, where they were subsequently enslaved. After the Exodus and forty years of wandering, the children of Israel reentered the Promised Land under Joshua. The regions that are today called Judea and Samaria were allocated to the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim, Benjamin, Simeon and Judah. For hundreds of years, the tribes were united around the location of the Tabernacle in the city of Shiloh.
Israel was united until the reign of Israel’s Kings when it was split between two kingdoms; the area of Israel north of Jerusalem was called Samaria, the area south of Jerusalem, Judah. The name Judea is simply a derivation of Judah that came about as a result of the Greek and Roman occupations.
Ending 2000 years of exile and persecution.
Judea and Samaria are of great significance in Christianity as well. Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus—and until relatively recently, a city with a large Christian majority—is located in Judea, just south of Jerusalem.
In ~135 AD, the Roman emperor Hadrian exiled many Jews from Israel, and more were displaced by Muslim invaders centuries later. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that Jewish People began returning home in large numbers and started purchasing and working the deserts and swamps that much of the Land had become in their absence.
Many Jews returned to the city of Hebron, in Judea, and began to build the community, which was only home to a few Jewish families. But in 1929, Arabs launched a massacre of Hebron’s Jews. Synagogues and homes were destroyed and sixty-seven Jews were murdered. The remaining Jews fled to Jerusalem, leaving Hebron vacant of Jews for the first time in millennia.
Signs mark property Jews were driven from in Hebron, 1929
Then, during Israel’s war of independence, Jordanian forces moved into Judea and Samaria and remained there after the war had ended. Several years later Jordan annexed Judea and Samaria, illegally, as the land had been designated by the international community for the Jewish State. Jordan renamed Judea and Samaria “the West Bank” since it sat on the west bank of the Jordan River.
In June 1967, Israel was again attacked from the east by Jordan, which began shelling Jerusalem and sending planes to bomb other Israeli cities. Responding in defense, Israel pushed enemy forces out of Judea and Samaria in just two days, in a miraculous victory. Soon after, Jews began to return to reclaim an important part of their ancient homeland.
For many Jews, their presence in the land and call to action is rooted in Biblical prophecy:
They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations Isaiah 61:4
Communities began springing up all over as homes were built, and life started to come back to the hills. Vineyards and olive trees were planted and today, wineries in Judea and Samaria are winning gold medals worldwide with their wines, and Israel is exporting olive oil to other countries. More than half a million Jews now call Judea and Samaria home.
The struggle for the Land
Millions of Palestinian Arabs live in Judea and Samaria where they are governed by the Palestinian Authority (PA), a corrupt and oppressive government. The PA incites its people to violence against Jews, pays salaries to terrorists in Israeli prisons, and educates its children to hate Israel. Israel has, over the years, offered the Palestinians control of more than 90% of Judea and Samaria. Each time the Palestinian government has refused.
In the 1990’s, Israel ceded control of some parts of Judea and Samaria to Palestinian control with the Oslo Accords, resulting in a decade of horrible terror attacks against Israelis. Sadly most Palestinian Arabs do not want to live peaceably alongside Israel. Their goal is to take all of the Land, not part of it, and erase Israel from the map.
The community of Itamar, in Samaria
Unfortunately, today there are many world governments, college professors and students, religious leaders, etc, loudly pressuring Israel to give up Judea and Samaria for the creation of a Palestinian State. They want Judea and Samaria to be Jew-free. The United Nations and countless other organizations call Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria illegal, despite the fact that the land was mandated for a Jewish State by the League of Nations, and no other nation has ever exercised legitimate sovereignty over it.
Maintaining Secure Borders
Judea and Samaria is also an integral part of Israel for security reasons. Without Judea and Samaria, Israel is only 9 miles wide in places. The mountains of Samaria overlook the coastal plain, where most of Israel’s population lives, in addition to Ben Gurion International Airport. Judea and Samaria provides strategic territorial depth and high ground, which are absolutely critical for Israel’s security and survival in the hostile Middle East.
What’s in a Name?
“The boundary of the hill country of Samaria and Judea starts on the Jordan River…” From the United Nations 1947 partition plan
The names Judea and Samaria go back thousands of years, so why do most insist on using the term “West Bank,” the name assigned to the territory by Jordan during its illegal 18 year occupation?
It goes back to the world’s misguided and evil desire to force Israel to give up the Land in hopes of peace. Calling it “the West Bank,” erases the unbreakable and indisputable claim the Jewish People have to the Land. It obscures and reduces thousands of years of rich history to a generic term chosen by Israel’s enemies.
Call it the by the ancient tribal divisions made by Joshua, call it Judea and Samaria, call it Israel, but let’s stop using the nomenclature of Israel's enemies to refer to Israel’s heartland.
Judea and Samaria at the forefront of Israel's restoration
Judea and Samaria is a special place. It is a place where one can look and see Biblical prophecy in action. The land that once flowed with milk and honey is once again prospering. The mountains where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob heard the voice of God, are where their descendants are living and prospering.
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