Knesset Votes to Express Support for Sovereignty over Judea and Samaria

The motion, tabled by coalition and opposition members of the Land of Israel Caucus, was not legally binding.

By Akiva Van Koningsveld, JNS

Israel’s Knesset passed a non-binding motion on Wednesday declaring its support for extending sovereignty to Judea and Samaria.

The motion, which was tabled by coalition and opposition members of the Land of Israel Caucus, passed without opposition. Knesset records showed that 15 Knesset members were present when the motion was put to a vote.

The initiative was spearheaded by Knesset members Simcha Rothman and Limor Son Har-Melech, who co-chair the Land of Israel Caucus, Dan Illouz (Likud Party) and Oded Forer (Yisrael Beiteinu Party).

“With the understanding that these parts of the Land are inseparable from the homeland of the Jewish people, in light of the broad Israeli consensus against a Palestinian state, and to prevent the recurrence of the Oct. 7 disaster—applying Israeli law is a moral and necessary step for security and the realization of the Zionist vision,” the motion read.

The Yesha Council umbrella group, which represents the some 500,000 Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria and played a role in promoting the declaration behind the scenes, welcomed Wednesday’s decision.

“This is a formative moment,” the council noted in a Hebrew statement. “On behalf of all the heads of local authorities in Judea and Samaria and more than half a million residents, we thank MKs Rothman, Son Har-Melech, Forer, Illouz and coalition chairman Ofir Katz,” it continued.

“Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria will ensure that a massacre like Oc. 7 will never, God forbid, happen again in central Israel,” it said.

A declarative motion is a parliamentary procedure that allows Knesset lawmakers to raise issues for public debate, but it is not legally binding. The approval of such a measure by the Knesset plenary indicates that a formal discussion took place, but no legislation was enacted as a result.

In February 2024, the Knesset plenum voted 99-11 to back a Cabinet decision to reject any unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood.

All coalition members and most lawmakers of the Zionist opposition parties voted to support the Cabinet statement against “international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.”

The Israeli government has recently warned some key European nations that any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state could prompt Jerusalem to extend sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer reportedly told France, the United Kingdom and others that the move could lead Israel to annex Area C of Judea and Samaria and legalize outposts.

“Unilateral moves against Israel will be met with unilateral moves by Israel,” Sa’ar told his counterparts, the Israel Hayom daily reported.

Israel’s Security Cabinet recently approved 22 new Jewish communities across Judea and Samaria, including two in northern Samaria that were uprooted by Israeli forces as part of the 2005 Gaza disengagement.

Some of the approved villages are existing outposts that had thus far been illegal under Israeli law, while others will be newly constructed.

“We made a historic decision for the settlement: 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria, renewing settlement in the north of Samaria, and reinforcing the eastern axis of the State of Israel—the State of Israel’s defensive shield,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Thursday.

“With God’s help, we have returned Israel to a path of building, Zionism, and vision. Settlement in our ancestral homeland is the protective wall of the State of Israel—and today we took a major step in fortifying it,” continued Smotrich, who led the initiative in the Security Cabinet.

“The next step—sovereignty!” the right-wing minister concluded.

Meanwhile, late last week, Israeli Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf announced that Jerusalem would allocate 30 million shekels ($8.42 million) to build more than a dozen cities and industrial zones in Samaria in an attempt to bring a million more Jews to the area.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, 529,704 Jews lived in Judea and Samaria, amounting to approximately 5.28% of the Jewish state’s population. Nearly 70% of Israeli citizens want Jerusalem to extend its full legal sovereignty over the disputed territory, according to a poll conducted on Jan. 29.

Fifty-eight percent of Israeli Jews believe that communities in Judea and Samaria contribute to the security of the country, according to a survey the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) published on March 11.

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