Florida pushes bill to rename West Bank as ‘Judea and Samaria’
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Israeli media expect the bill to pass with majority support in the Florida state legislature.
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Makeshift houses of the Palestinian Bedouin Jahalin community, bottom, are seen next to the West Bank Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, Monday, June 2, 2025 (AP)
A new legislative push in Florida aims to formally prohibit the term West Bank in official state documents and replace it with "Judea and Samaria," terminology favored by the Israeli occupation to describe the occupied Palestinian territory.
According to the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, the bill was introduced by State Representative Chase Tramont following a recent visit to the area referred to by the occupation as "Samaria", the northern part of the occupied West Bank. Israel Hayom said the bill is expected to pass with majority support in the Florida state legislature.
Described as "historic", the bill coincides with the arrival of a delegation of eight local council heads from the Yesha Council to the US. The Yesha Council is an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The group is reportedly on an urgent mission to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, currently in the US, and pressure him to support this effort. The move comes after US President Donald Trump recently stated he would not permit the "annexation" of the West Bank. Earlier in January, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Representative Claudia Tenney (R-New York) stated that Trump had pledged his support for federal legislation aimed at renaming the West Bank, with Tenney stating that Trump called it "a very priority task" for his administration.
'I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank': Trump
This comes although Trump has declared a few days ago that he will not allow the Israeli occupation to "annex" the occupied West Bank, rebuffing calls from far-right Israeli politicians who seek full "sovereignty" over the territory.
“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Nope, I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding, “There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now”.
Trump’s remarks came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New York to deliver an address at the United Nations.
Growing state-level, federal campaigns across the US
Tramont's initiative mirrors recent Republican-led legislation in other US states. The Florida proposal would make the state the eighth to adopt such measures. The bill coincides with lobbying from Israeli officials and representatives of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Yossi Dagan, head of the "Samaria Regional Council," has been instrumental in this coordinated push.
Arkansas became the first US state to pass such legislation with the "Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act" (HB1929), signed into law as Act 797. It mandates the use of "Judea and Samaria" in all official state documents.
Since then, Utah, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, and now Florida have introduced or passed similar bills as part of a broader Republican effort to this end.
Federal legislative efforts to rename West Bank
At the federal level, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) introduced Senate Bill 384, while Representative Claudia Tenney led HR 902. Both seek to enforce the use of "Judea and Samaria" in federal government language and documentation.
In February 2025, Representative Brian Mast, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a directive requiring Republican staffers to use "Judea and Samaria" in all formal documents.
International, Palestinian response
Despite US legislative efforts, the international community, including the UN, EU, and most world governments, continues to refer to the West Bank as the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denounced the initiative as a "dangerous escalation" aimed at legitimizing occupation and undermining the possibility of a "two-state solution". Rights groups have also criticized it as historical revisionism.
