House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) declared that Judea and Samaria belong to the Jewish people “by right” during a historic visit to Ariel on Monday, according to a statement issued by the Samaria capital.
While Axios reported that Johnson’s tour of Samaria was designated as a private trip, the speaker was joined by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, as well as Reps. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas) and Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.).
Other participants included Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Heather Johnston, the founder of the U.S.-Israel Education Association.
According to the Israel Hayom daily, Johnson visited Ariel with the express consent from the White House and the U.S. State Department.
“The Bible teaches that the hills of Judea and Samaria were promised to the Jewish people and belong to you by right,” Johnson said during the tour with local leaders, according to a readout of his remarks provided by the Ariel Municipality.
“The world may not see it that way, but we do,” he continued, according to the readout.
Johnson’s office had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
The municipality described the visit as a “clear sign of deep support and a boost to Ariel’s standing as a leading Israeli city.”
The delegation took part in a vine-planting ceremony with Mayor Yair Chetboun at the city’s National Leadership Center, “meant to represent the strategic partnership and a shared future commitment,” it stated.
During a meeting with leaders from across Judea and Samaria, Yesha Council head Israel Ganz presented Johnson and Huckabee with a diplomatic plan to extend Jerusalem’s sovereignty over the region.
“We feel your support in advancing this vision, and we are deeply grateful that you came and expressed your support here in Judea and Samaria,” said Ganz, who represents the 500,000 or so Jewish residents of the region, according to a Yesha Council readout.
Marc Zell, chairman of the Republicans Overseas Israel branch, described the visit as “historic,” noting that Huckabee said “while America has many allies and friends in the world, it has only one true partner: Israel.
“Today’s visit proves this beyond any doubt. This is a clear expression of President [Donald] Trump’s unwavering support for Israel, and recognition that Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria is not an obstacle to peace, but rather an expression of the Jewish people’s historical and legal right to their land,” added Zell.
According to Zell, Johnson criticized those “erstwhile allies” who seek to create a Palestinian state in the area.
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, who met Johnson on Tuesday, praised his U.S. counterpart for becoming the “highest-ranking American official ever to visit Judea and Samaria, our cradle as a people.
“Even on a private visit,” Ohana wrote on X, Johnson’s “commitment to our shared Judeo-Christian values and history remains unwavering.
“Thank you, Mike. May God bless you,” the Knesset speaker added.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S. visit to Ariel and what it described as Johnson’s “provocative and inflammatory statements in support of annexation.
“Such actions encourage settlement expansion and settler crimes and clearly contradict the U.S.'s declared position on settlements,” it said.
In May, Huckabee became the first U.S. ambassador to pray at the ancient Shiloh biblical site in southern Samaria on an official visit.
“I have never used any term other than Judea and Samaria,” the envoy declared during his visit to the site, adding: “It would be a historical injustice and a denial of the Bible to use other terms.”
