To prohibit the use of materials that use the term West Bank, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill requires all U.S. government agencies to stop using the term "West Bank" and instead use "Judea and Samaria" when referring to territories that Israel annexed from Jordan in 1967. The bill also amends eight existing federal laws to replace "West Bank" with "Judea and Samaria" in their text. This represents a shift from internationally recognized geographic terminology to biblical/Israeli terminology for the disputed territories.
Who Benefits and How
Pro-Israel advocacy groups benefit politically by having the U.S. government adopt Israeli terminology that implies sovereignty over the disputed territories. Government printing and publishing contractors could see increased revenue from updating millions of existing government documents, reports, maps, websites, and training materials. Israeli settlement organizations gain legitimacy through official U.S. government recognition of their preferred terminology.
Who Bears the Burden and How
All federal agencies—especially the State Department, Defense Department, and intelligence agencies—must review and revise countless documents, databases, maps, briefings, and communications systems at significant administrative cost. Government contractors and consultants who produce foreign policy materials must update their work products and train staff on the new terminology. Palestinian advocacy groups and international relations professionals face challenges as U.S. terminology diverges from international diplomatic norms used by the UN, EU, and most other nations.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits spending federal funds on any government materials (policies, regulations, executive orders, press releases, communications) that use "West Bank" instead of "Judea and Samaria"
- Defines "Judea" as land south of Jerusalem and "Samaria" as land north of Jerusalem
- Amends the Foreign Assistance Act, Taylor Force Act, and six other federal laws to replace all instances of "West Bank" with "Judea and Samaria"
- Includes exception allowing use of "West Bank" when required by international treaties or agreements
- Gives Secretary of State power to waive the prohibition if in U.S. national interests, with 30-day congressional notification required
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Mandates that all U.S. government materials use the terms 'Judea and Samaria' instead of 'West Bank' when referring to territories annexed by Israel from Jordan in 1967, and amends existing U.S. law to conform to this terminology change.
Who Benefits
- Pro-Israel advocacy groups
- Israeli government and settlement organizations
- U.S. government contractors who produce materials using new terminology
Who Bears Costs
- U.S. government agencies (administrative burden of updating all materials)
- Palestinian advocacy groups
- International relations professionals who use standard terminology
Key Policy Areas
Foreign Affairs, Israel-Palestine Relations, Government Communications, Legal Terminology
Primary Purpose
Mandates that all U.S. government materials use the terms 'Judea and Samaria' instead of 'West Bank' when referring to territories annexed by Israel from Jordan in 1967, and amends existing U.S. law to conform to this terminology change.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Advance pro-Israel policy position by mandating use of Israeli/biblical terminology for disputed territories instead of internationally recognized geographic term"
Identified Gains
- Pro-Israel advocacy groups
- Israeli government and settlement organizations
- U.S. government contractors who produce materials using new terminology
Identified Costs
- U.S. government agencies (administrative burden of updating all materials)
- Palestinian advocacy groups
- International relations professionals who use standard terminology
- Publishers and contractors who must revise existing materials
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMs. Tenney (for herself, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mrs. Miller …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Federal agencies producing foreign policy materials, U.S. State Department
Palestinian advocacy organizations, Pro-Israel advocacy organizations
Positive-direction: Pro-Israel advocacy organizations
Negative-direction: Palestinian advocacy organizations
Government contractors and consultants producing foreign affairs materials
Government printing and publishing contractors
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of State
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The land annexed by Israel from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War, with the land south of Jerusalem being 'Judea' and the land north of Jerusalem being 'Samaria'
The term that should no longer be used in official government materials (to be replaced by 'Judea and Samaria')
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology