By CP StaffMonday, September 29, 2025President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, in the East Room of the White House to unveil details of the Trump administration’s Middle East Peace Plan. | White House Photo/Shealah CraigheadAhead of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, over 200 Evangelical leaders are urging President Donald Trump to defend Israel’s right to exercise “sovereignty over the biblical heartland” Judea and Samaria (known internationally as the West Bank). The letter, organized by the Washington-based Christian conservative advocacy organization Family Research Council, was sent on Sunday as reports indicate that Netanyahu plans to raise the possibility of annexing parts of the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, despite Trump’s stated opposition to such a move. Titled “Standing with the Biblical Heart of Israel,” leaders say they are “deeply concerned” with “voices — even among allies — who urge policies” that they believe “would weaken Israel by forcing concessions at the very heart of its existence.””Restricting or discouraging Israel’s right to exercise sovereignty over the biblical heartland — Judea and Samaria — will not bring peace; it will only prolong conflict and increase threats, not only to the Jewish people but also to Palestinians who genuinely desire peace,” the letter reads. “Mr. President, we urge you to resist the pressure of those who, through the ‘death of a thousand cuts,’ would dismantle Israel’s claim to the land promised by God in Scripture and affirmed by history. America must not be a party to undermining what God has established and will continue to establish.”The meeting follows several recognitions of a Palestinian state by American allies, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and France, moves condemned by Trump. Netanyahu’s coalition partners have reportedly pushed for the annexation of Judea and Samaria in retaliation for the recent recognitions. The Evangelical letter urges Trump to “reaffirm the biblical and historical truth” that “Judea and Samaria are not only Israel’s history, they are Israel’s identity.””Sovereignty over this land is Israel’s God-given right, and for the sake of justice and lasting peace, it must be recognized,” they wrote. Speaking with reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump said he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. “I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen,” Trump said. “Whether I spoke with Bibi [Netanyahu] or not — and I did — I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. That’s enough. It’s time to stop now.”Among signatories of the letter are several pastors, ministry leaders, advocates, elected officials and state lawmakers. They include Pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia; Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, in his capacity with the Real Life Network; former congresswoman and current Dean of Regent University Michele Bachmann; and conservative radio host and author Eric Metaxas. Other signatories include Dumisani Washington, who leads the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel; Family Research Council President Tony Perkins; and Mat Staver, chairman of the Christian conservative legal organization Liberty Counsel. “As Christians who stand firmly with the Jewish people, we ask you to continue your courageous leadership by acknowledging Israel’s right to exercise sovereignty over Judea and Samaria,” they concluded. “Such a step would not only align with biblical truth, but it would also advance peace by grounding policy in reality rather than illusion. Mr. President, your leadership at this critical moment matters. History will remember you as the leader who chose to stand with God’s covenant and with His people, Israel.”In his comments at the United Nations General Assembly last week, Trump criticized the recognitions of a Palestinian state and called for Western powers to focus on securing the release of the hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, when it killed 1,200 people — mostly civilians — in an attack on southern Israel.The invasion sparked an Israeli military offensive in Gaza, a Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas since 2007. The U.S. has recognized Hamas as a foreign terror organization since 1997.”As if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize the Palestinian state,” Trump said. “The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities.”Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson recently drew criticism when he slammed those who don’t refer to the region as the West Bank, even going as far as to suggest that Judea and Samaria are essentially fictional places. Susan Michael, president of the U.S. branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, who also signed Sunday’s letter, previously told The Christian Post that the names Judea and Samaria have been used since biblical times and are still used today by the Israeli government. “By contrast, ‘West Bank’ only describes the brief 19-year period of Jordanian occupation,” she said. “It is far more accurate to call the region Judea and Samaria, the biblical heartland of Israel.”Luke Moon, the executive director of The Philos Project, a nonprofit organization that equips Christians seeking to support Israel and the Jewish people, stressed that Judea and Samaria are the names of lands roamed by key figures in the Bible. “These are the same hills where Abraham walked, where David tended sheep, where prophets thundered the Word of God,” Moon told CP. “The only people who believe Judea and Samaria to be fictional names are the ones who’ve never opened the Book they claim to believe in.”
Evangelicals want Trump to back Israel in Judea and Samaria
