Mike Johnson openly affirms Israel’s historic rights to Judea and Samaria, rebuking Hamas terror and calling out the UN’s silence.
In a bold statement of support, US House Speaker Mike Johnson declared that Judea and Samaria are Israel’s ancestral lands—a stance made even more significant following former US President Donald Trump’s remark that he would not permit Israel to annex those areas.
“I believe that Judea and Samaria are the traditional lands that belong to Israel,” Johnson stated on Tony Perkins’ This Week on Capitol Hill podcast. “But there are a lot of geopolitical forces at play here. I think there’s still a lot to resolve, and we will have to see how this develops.”
Johnson did not stop there. He blasted Hamas as a “vicious, vile terror organization” guilty of murder, torture, and using civilians as human shields. “Everyone around the world, all freedom-loving people everywhere, in every nation at the UN, should have applauded” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call to release the hostages, he stressed. “The United Nations needs to get behind the right, the good side of this, so it can be resolved.”
The Speaker’s remarks follow Trump’s statement Thursday: “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen.” His comments sparked debate in Israel, especially as several leaders renewed calls to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria in response to a wave of unilateral Palestinian state recognitions last week.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar pushed back on annexation talk in a recent interview with Italy’s Corriere Della Sera, saying Israel has no interest in controlling Palestinians directly. Yet, among the Israeli public and many lawmakers, the demand to cement sovereignty over Judea and Samaria is only growing stronger—particularly as global institutions continue to reward Palestinian intransigence while ignoring Hamas atrocities.
Johnson’s words stand as a rare voice of clarity in Washington: Judea and Samaria are not “occupied”—they are Jewish land.
