Editing Judea and Samaria Area (section)

==Terminology==

=== Biblical significance ===
The Judea and Samaria Area covers a portion of the territory designated by the [[Bible|biblical]] names of [[Judea]] and [[Samaria]]. Both names are tied to the ancient [[Israelites|Israelite]] kingdoms: the former corresponds to part of the [[Kingdom of Judah]], also known as the Southern Kingdom; and the latter corresponds to part of the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]], also known as the Northern Kingdom. In 1947, the terminology was noted by the [[United Nations]] in the [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|Partition Plan for Palestine]] with the statement: "the boundary of the hill country of Samaria and Judea starts on the [[Jordan River]]..."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/038/88/IMG/NR003888.pdf?OpenElement|title=ODS HOME PAGE|website=documents-dds-ny.un.org|access-date=2020-02-16}}</ref> 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 include [[Beersheba]] and Caesarea.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Does the Term ‘Judea and Samaria’ Mean? {{!}} History, Israel, West Bank, & Map {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/What-Does-the-Term-Judea-and-Samaria-Mean |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

=== 1967 Arab–Israeli War ===
In 1967, the [[Six-Day War]] saw Israeli forces capture the [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|Jordanian-annexed West Bank]], marking the beginning of the [[Israeli occupation of the West Bank|ongoing Israeli occupation of the territory]]. Following its capture, the right-wing Israelis began to refer to the territories by their [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]-language names and argued for [[Proposed Israeli annexation of the West Bank|their integration into Israel]] on historical, religious, nationalist, and security grounds.<ref name="Caplan2011">{{cite book|author=Neil Caplan|title=The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Contested Histories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JyAgn_dD43cC&pg=PT18|date=19 September 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-5786-8|pages=18–}}</ref><ref name="Dowty2012">{{cite book|author=Alan Dowty|title=Israel / Palestine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3FcUslKPRsQC&pg=PA131|date=11 June 2012|publisher=Polity|isbn=978-0-7456-5612-0|pages=130–131}}</ref> In December 1967, the [[Israeli 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{{' "}}.<ref name="Judea and Samaria4">{{cite book|title = International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories: Two Decades of Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip|author=Emma Playfair|year = 1992|publisher=Oxford University Press|page = 41|quote = 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.}}</ref> By early 1968, "Judea and Samaria" had been formally adopted in official usage.<ref name="Judea and Samaria3" /> However, the phrase was rarely used until 1977, when [[Menachem Begin]], a proponent of extending Israel's sovereignty to the region, was elected as Israel's sixth prime minister.<ref name="Judea and Samaria1">{{cite book|title = The Riddle of Nationalism: The Dialectic of Religion and Nationalism in the Middle East |author=Ian Lustick|year=2002|publisher=Logos, vol. 1, n<sup>o</sup> 3|pages = 18–44|quote = 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.}}</ref><ref name="Judea and Samaria3">{{cite book|title = Trapped Fools: Thirty Years of Israeli Policy in the Territories|author=Shlomo Gazit|year=2003|publisher=Routledge |page=162|quote= [...] 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.}}</ref><ref name="Judea and Samaria2">{{cite book|title = Israeli Visions and Divisions: Cultural Change and Political Conflict|author=Myron J. Aronoff|year=1991|publisher=Transaction Publishers |page=10|quote= [...] "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.}}</ref><ref name="Judea and Samaria5">{{cite book|title = Influence of the Middle East Peace Process on the Hebrew Language|author=Ran HaCohen|year = 1992|publisher=Undoing and Redoing Corpus Planning, Michael G. Clyne (ed.)|pages = 385–414, 397|quote = 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.}}</ref>

The name ''Judea'', when used in ''Judea and Samaria'', refers to all of the area to the south of [[Jerusalem]], including [[Gush Etzion]] and [[Har Hevron Regional Council|Har Hevron]]. The name ''Samaria'', on the other hand, refers to all of the area to the north of Jerusalem. In 1980, [[East Jerusalem]] (a part of the [[West Bank]]) was [[Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem|effectively 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" ({{Langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|הַגָּדָה הַמַּעֲרָבִית}}|translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit|label=none}}) or, alternatively, "[[Israeli-occupied territories|the Territories]]" ({{Langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|השטחים}}|translit=HaShtahim|label=none}}) are also current in Israeli usage. Generally, preference for one term over the other indicates the speaker's position on the [[Politics of Israel|Israeli political spectrum]]. Left-wingers, who take the view that the territory should be evacuated under [[Israeli–Palestinian peace process|a 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 the [[Derry/Londonderry name dispute]] in [[Northern Ireland]]).