Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Tennessee General Assembly, fetched 2026-09-25. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. This is the chaptered version. The official bill page.
;~.-.i..i~.; S~J•i,•<t•J•f•• •..
<ii !( ~~~:~'Il-ilJ~i-:1-.·;,-,.•.o\~• ·..
IH : •r..:i':1 f\\TIUt.:y~ l_;tlJRE !~!
~tate of \!rennessee
PUBLIC CHAPTER NO. 877
HOUSE BILL NO. 1446
By Representatives Todd, McCalmon, Cepicky, Garrett, Hawk, Lamberth, Moon, Warner,
Greg Martin, Howell, Carringer, Littleton, Powers, Eldridge, Butler, Rudd, Zachary,
Capley, Bulso, Davis, Reneau, Terry
Substituted for: Senate Bill No. 1663
By Senators Rose, Pody, Bailey, Bowling, Jackson, Seal
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 3; Title 4 and Title 8, relative to the
Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. This act is known and may be cited as the "Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act."
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 1, Part 4, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) The general assembly finds and declares that:
(1) The regions known as Judea and Samaria ("Shomronir in Hebrew) are
the ancestral heartland of the Jewish people, comprising the historical, spiritual,
and geographical core of the Land of Israel;
(2) Judec1 and Samaria are repeatedly and explicitly referenced in the
Hebrew Bible as the setting for key events that form the foundation of the Jewish
people's religious and national identity. Among these references are:
(A) Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish people, who first entered
the Land of Israel at Shechem, located in Samaria, where God promised
the land to His descendants, as recorded in Genesis 12:6-7;
(8) Abraham's subsequent purchase of the Cave of Machpelah in
Hebron, in Judea, as a burial place for he and his wife Sarah, thereby
making tbe first recorded land acquisition by a Jew in the Land of Israel,
as recorded in Genesis 23 and 25;
(C) Jacob, Abraham's grandson, who had his prophetic dream of a
ladder reaching heaven while in Bethel, in Samaria, as recorded in
Genesis 28:10.;.22, and later purchased land near Shechem, building an
altar to God there, as described in Genesis 33: 18-20;
(D) Joseph, Jacob's son, who was buried in Shechem in fulfillment
of the promise made to him by his family, as recorded in Joshua 24:32;
(E) The covenant ceremony between the children of Israel and
God that was performed on Mount Gerizim (Mountain of Blessing) and
Mount Ebal (Mountain of the Curse), both located in Samaria, as -
commanded in Deuteronomy 11 :29;
(F) The Tabernacle, which was the center of Israelite worship prior
to the construction of the First Temple in Jerusalem, stood in Shiloh, in
Samaria, for several centuries, as recorded in Joshua 18: 1;
(G) King David, who began his reign over the tribes of Israel in
Hebron, in Judea, where he ruled for seven years before establishing his
kingdom in Jerusalem, as described in 2 Samuel 2:1-4; and
HB1446
(H) Jerusalem, which sits historically on the border of the tribal
territories of Judah and Benjamin, and was purchased by King David from
Araunah the Jebusite, as recorded in 2 Samuel 24:24, and became the
eternal capital of the Jewish people;
(3) The return of the Jewish people to Judea and Samaria in modern
times constitutes the fulfillment of numerous biblical prophecies, including, but
not limited to, the following scriptures:
(A) "Again you shall plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the
planters shall plant and shall enjoy them." (Jeremiah 31 :5);
(B) "You, mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for
my people Israel, for they will soon come home." (Ezekiel 36:8); and
(C) "I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the
ruined cities and live in them." (Amos 9:14);
(4) The names "Judea" and "Samaria" are the historically, biblically, and
legally accurate terms for the region. "Samaria" is derived from the city
established by King Omri, as recorded in 1 Kings 16:24. "Judea" refers to the
territory of the Tribe of Judah, which included Jerusalem, Hebron, and
surrounding regions;
(5) The areas of Judea and Samaria were illegally conquered by Jordan
in Israel's Independence War in 1948. The term "West Bank" was imposed by the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan during its illegal occupation of the region between
1948 and 1967. It was a political construct meant to reframe the land as the
"west bank of the Jordan River" and sever it from its Jewish historical and biblical
roots;
(6) The use of the term "West Bank" is a deliberate attempt to erase the
Jewish identity of Judea and Samaria, and to obscure the deep historical,
religious, and legal connections of the Jewish people to the land;
(7) During the Six-Day War of June 1967, the State of Israel liberated
Judea and Samaria from Jordanian control, restoring Jewish access to their
ancestral homeland and holy sites after nineteen (19) years of exclusion and
desecration under Jordanian occupation;
(8) The strategic importance of Judea and Samaria to the State of Israel
is irrefutable. Without Judea and Samaria, the width of Israel is only nine (9)
miles at its narrowest point, between Netanya and Tulkarm, rendering the state
militarily indefensible;
(9) For purposes of comparison, this narrow strip of land is:
(A) Shorter than the length of Dallas-Fort Worth Airport in Texas;
(B) Shorter than the distance between RFK Stadium and the
Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.;
(C) Equal to the distance between the John F. Kennedy and
LaGuardia airports in New York City; and
(D) Equal to the distance between Columbia University and Wall
Street in Manhattan;
(10) The highlands of Judea and Samaria overlook Israel's coastal plain,
where more than seventy percent (70%) of the population and economic
infrastructure is concentrated, including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Ben-Gurion
International Airport;
2
HB1446
(11) Israel's control of Judea and Samaria is essential to its defense and
deterrence capabilities. Hostile control of the area would place Israel's major
cities and transportation arteries at risk;
(12) The ideological and cultural conflict over Judea and Samaria
represents a broader civilizational struggle between Judea-Christian values and
radical Islamic ideologies that seek to undermine Western democratic principles
and religious freedom;
(13) Supporting Jewish sovereignty in Judea and Samaria is an
affirmation of:
(A) The moral and historical legitimacy of the Jewish people's
connection to their land;
(8) The authenticity and enduring relevance of the Bible; and
(C) The values that underpin both Western civilization and
American constitutional democracy;
(14) Numerous American towns and cities bear the names of biblical
locations in Judea and Samaria, illustrating the deep cultural and spiritual bond
between the United States and the biblical Land of Israel. These include, but are
not limited to, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Hebron, Kentucky; Shiloh, Tennessee;
Bethel, Ohio; and Mount Ephraim, New Jersey;
(15) Under the San Remo Resolution of 1920, the Allied Powers
recognized the right of the Jewish people to reconstitute their national home in
their ancestral land, including Judea and Samaria. This decision was
incorporated into the Mandate for Palestine, approved by the League of Nations,
and remains binding under Article 80 of the United Nations Charter;
(16) No international agreement or resolution has lawfully revoked or
superseded these foundational legal rights. Therefore, Israel's sovereignty in
Judea and Samaria is consistent with international law;
(17) The security and sovereignty of the State of Israel in Judea and
Samaria serves the· strategic interests of the United States by:
(A) Preventing the emergence of a terrorist-controlled state in the
heart of the Middle East, which would not only threaten regional stability
and Israel's security, but would almost certainly align itself against the
United States in international forums such as the United Nations, and
would provide a strategic foothold to hostile regimes, including China,
Russia, Iran, and North Korea, thereby endangering U.S. allies and
interests across the region;
(8) Advancing long-term stability in the Middle East, as all areas in
Judea and Samaria currently under Palestinian Authority control have
historically been used to launch terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. A
further Israeli withdrawal from these areas would create a power vacuum
and fertile ground for terrorist groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad,
to expand their operations, destabilize neighboring states, and threaten
regional peace; and
(C) Ensuring that America stands in defense of truth and moral
clarity, by supporting the sovereignty of Israel over Judea and Samaria,
thereby affirming the Judea-Christian heritage upon which the United
States was founded, and recognizing the Bible as a legitimate historical
document and Israel as the rightful steward of its ancestral homeland;
(18) The land liberated by Israel from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day
War shall be referred to by its historical names of "Judea" and "Samaria," with
3
HB1446
the land south of Jerusalem being considered "Judea" and the land north of
Jerusalem being considered "Samaria"; and
(19) This state shall no longer use the term "West Bank" in official
government materials.
(b) As used in this section:
(1) "Official government material" means a guidance, rule, material,
briefing, press release, communication, or work product document prepared by a
state agency; and
(2) "State agency" means a department, division, office, board,
commission, or institution of this state.
(c) Except when in reference to a communication issued by a federal agency, a
state agency shall not:
(1) Use the term "West Bank" to refer to Judea and Samaria in official
government material; and
(2) Use state funds to create official government material that refers to
Judea and Samaria as "West Bank."
(d) This section must not be construed to:
(1) Infringe on the rights of freedom of speech protected by the First
Amendment to the United States Constitution;
(2) Apply to or restrict lecture content, classroom remarks, scholarly
articles, research publications, or other expressive academic work of faculty at
public institutions of higher education; or
(3) Compel or require an individual to use the terminology specified in this
section as an endorsement of a particular viewpoint or ideology.
(e) Notwithstanding subsection (d), this act applies to written records or materials
prepared by state employees acting in their official capacities for administrative or
institutional purposes, including course descriptions, catalogs, institutional publications,
and other official or administrative materials.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.
4
HOUSE BILL NO. 1446
PASSED: April 9, 2026
CAMERS•I &EXTON, SPEAKER
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
!2, .. ~--- ~ .. "'c;,\\,~
\ RANDY MCNAlly
PEAKER OF THE SEN TE
Ape: l APPROVED this ....EIJ!!!:_ day of 2026
Cu_,
BILL LEE, GOVERNOREvery fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.