In the final week of his presidency, U.S. President Joe Biden extended the national emergency that he declared on Feb. 1, 2024, in Judea and Samaria for another year, through Feb. 1, 2026.
Biden said that the emergency addresses “the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States constituted by the situation in the West Bank.” (The Biden administration and some others refer to Judea and Samaria as “the West Bank.”)
“The situation in the West Bank—in particular, high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages and property destruction—has reached intolerable levels and constitutes a serious threat to the peace, security and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel and the broader Middle East region,” the president stated.
“These actions undermine the foreign-policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity and freedom,” he said, adding that “they also undermine the security of Israel and have the potential to lead to broader regional destabilization across the Middle East, threatening United States personnel and interests.”
Critics have said Biden has sanctioned individual Israelis, who pose no threat to America and have limited means, and that the Israeli judicial system can and does handle isolated instances of illegality and violence.
U.S. residents of Judea and Samaria are suing the Biden administration.
“American citizens have a right to be heard and to challenge the government before the government takes action against them or deprives them of some interest,” an attorney for the plaintiffs told JNS. “The Biden administration, with what appears to be zero due diligence, did just that.”
