Sovereignty over Judea and Samaria JNS - Jewish News Syndicate FEB 25, 2026
Smotrich: Jerusalem will ‘never’ cede control of Judea and Samaria
"It is part of Israel, part of the State of Israel," Finance Minister Smotrich told JNS, "and with God's help, this can never be changed."
(Feb. 24, 2026 / JNS) Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism) declared on Monday that Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley are part of the Jewish state and “with God’s help, this can never be changed.”
Smotrich commented to JNS on figures showing that the Jewish population in the region grew in 2025 at twice the national rate.
The current 541,085 residents of Judea and Samaria are “not enough,” Smotrich told JNS. “We want the population to grow much more, throughout the entire State of Israel and in Judea and Samaria.”
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