State of Judea

This article is about the modern proposal for secession. For the similarly-named autonomous province of the Achaemenid (ancient Persia) empire, see Yehud Medinata.

Proposed flag of Judea
Proposed location of the State of Judea

The State of Judea (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יְהוּדָה, Medīnat Yəhuda) is a proposed halachic state in the West Bank put forward by Israeli Jewish settlers. After the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) declared the existence of a Palestinian state in 1988, some settler activists (primarily Kahanists) feared that international pressure would lead Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and sought to lay the groundwork for an Orthodox Jewish state in the West Bank if this came to pass. The establishment of this state was announced in a Jerusalem hotel on December 27, 1988. Veteran Kahanist, Michael Ben-Horin, was declared president of the state of Judea.[1] In January 1989 several hundred activists met and announced their intention to create such a state if Israel withdrew.[2][3][4][5][6]

The idea was revived following the unilateral disengagement plan which resulted in the forcible withdrawal of Jewish settlers from Gaza by the Israeli Defense Force in 2005. In 2007 Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpo suggested the establishment of a new state in the West Bank in the event of Israeli withdrawal.[7][8]

  1. ^ Ami Pedahzur; Arie Perliger (1 October 2009). Jewish Terrorism in Israel. Columbia University Press. pp. 93–. ISBN 978-0-231-52075-1.
  2. ^ Kass, Ilana; O'Neill, Bard E (1997). The deadly embrace: the impact of Israeli and Palestinian rejectionism on the peace process. University Press of America. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-7618-0535-9.
  3. ^ Ron, James (2003). Frontiers and ghettos: state violence in Serbia and Israel. University of California Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-520-23657-8.
  4. ^ Rubinstein, Danny (22 January 2007). "The State of Judea". Haaretz.
  5. ^ "Settlers seek new nation called Judea". Eugene Register-Guard. 17 January 1989. p. 3A.
  6. ^ "Right-wingers eye new jewish state in the territories". Ellensburg Daily Record. 17 January 1989. p. 6.
  7. ^ "Rabbi threatens secession from Israel". UPI.com. 7 December 2007.
  8. ^ Weiss, Efrat (6 December 2007). "Rightist initiative: Picking flag and anthem for settler state". Ynetnews.