Follow us on social

Brian Mast IDF

Rep. Mast forces staff to call West Bank 'Judea & Samaria'

The new chair of foreign affairs committee is a former Israeli soldier and one of AIPAC’s most reliable members

Analysis | QiOSK

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast (R-Fl.) has instructed GOP committee staffers to refer to the West Bank by its Hebrew name, Judea and Samaria.

Heading one of Washington’s most powerful committees, Mast sent a memo outlining the language change to the nearly 50 Republican Foreign Affairs Committee staffers on Tuesday; Democratic staffers did not receive the request. Mast’s Washington.-based office confirmed the validity of Axios’ reporting in a phone call to RS; the memo sent to staffers has subsequently circulated on social media.

Critically, the memo repeatedly emphasizes Israelis’ right to the West Bank, a territory it occupies illegally, as their homeland.

"In recognition of our unbreakable bond with Israel and the inherent right of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland, the House Foreign Affairs committee will, from here forward, refer to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria in formal correspondence, communication and documentation,” Mast’s memo said.

“As a committee and as representatives of the American people, we must do our part to stem this reprehensible tide of antisemitism and recognize Israel’s rightful claim to the cradle of Jewish civilization.”

Mast’s language change push comes amid a major Israeli offensive on the West Bank, where about 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced in the last month, and a shaky ceasefire in Gaza, in place after Israeli forces killed at least 46,000 Palestinians and wounded 110,000 more in an extended onslaught of the strip, though some death toll estimates are much higher.

Mast’s motion is not the first of its kind. Rather, Sen. Tom Cotton (R.-Ariz) and Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) introduced congressional legislation for the same West Bank name swap last year.

And congressional calls to recognize the West Bank as Israeli are gaining steam in tandem. Tenney asked Trump to recognize the West Bank as Israeli territory in a letter early this week; Reps. Mary Miller (R-Ill.), Randy Weber (R-Texas), Andy Harris (R-Md.), Barry Moore (R-Ala.), and Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) signed it.

Trump has said he’ll announce his position on the West Bank’s jurisdiction soon. In the meantime, he’s repeatedly floated a controversial riviera plan for Gaza where “the U.S. will take over the Gaza strip” and Palestinians would have to leave, perhaps temporarily or permanently.

A former soldier for the Israel Defense Forces, Mast is one of Israel’s staunchest advocates in Congress. "Over his career, Rep. Brian Mast has received almost $700,000 from AIPAC, according to OpenSecrets.org,” says Dr. Annelle Sheline, Research Fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

“He served in the Israeli Defense Forces and wore an Israeli military uniform to Congress,” Dr. Sheline said, citing Mast’s IDF post-October 7 uniform stunt at Capitol Hill. “I hope his constituents are asking themselves whose interests he's really committed to: theirs, or Netanyahu's?"


Top photo credit: Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., wearing his Israeli Defense Forces uniform, on Capitol Hill, Oct. 13, 2023. (X post)
Analysis | QiOSK
Trump and Putin on phone
Top photo credit: Donald Trump (White House photo) and Vladimir Putin (Office of the Russian Federation President)
US-Russia talks: The rubber finally hits the road

Good, bad and ugly: Impact of US Iran strikes on Russia war talks

Europe

To a considerable degree, President Donald Trump won the presidency in 2024 because voters embraced his message of keeping America out of protracted conflicts and his promise to end the war in Ukraine.

The administration has made substantial operational headway, particularly in reopening stable channels for dialogue with Russia, but it has proven difficult to arrive at a framework for a negotiated settlement that enjoys buy-in from all the stakeholders — Ukraine, Russia, and Europe.

keep readingShow less
Trump Netanyahu in Washington
Top photo credit: Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu (Joshua Sukoff / Shutterstock.com)

Netanyahu returns to DC — in triumph or with more to ask?

Middle East

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will arrive in Washington for his third visit of Trump’s second term. Today also marks 21 months of Israel’s war on Gaza. The purpose of the visit remains unclear, and speculation abounds: will Trump and Netanyahu announce a real ceasefire in Gaza? Will Syria join the Abraham Accords? Or might Trump greenlight even broader Israeli action against Iran?

Before Netanyahu’s visit, Trump posted an ultimatum on Truth Social, claiming Israel had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire. He urged Hamas to accept the terms, threatening that “it will only get worse” if it doesn’t. Although Trump intended to pressure Hamas, reiterating a longstanding narrative that portrays the group as the obstacle to peace, Hamas has long maintained that it will only accept a ceasefire if it is part of a process that leads to a permanent end to Israel’s war and its complete withdrawal from the enclave. Netanyahu, for his part, remains adamant that the war must continue until Hamas is eliminated, a goal that even the IDF has described as not militarily viable.

keep readingShow less
POGO The Bunker
Top image credit: Project on Government Oversight

Yes to 'Department of War' name change

Military Industrial Complex

The Bunker appears originally at the Project on Government Oversight and is republished here with permission.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.