Rise of the State of Judea

Tuesday, December 27, 2011 | Ryan Jones

Israel Today covered in our January 2012 issue the growing phenomenon of "Price Tag" acts of vandalism by some Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria angry over the ongoing threat to their homes by hostile Arab gangs and international diplomatic pressure, and the Israeli government's seeming apathy toward their plight.

Recently this situation got top Israeli officials talking about the possibility of civil war after a "price tag" attack was perpetrated against an Israeli army base. It also resurrected talk about splitting from Israel and establishing a separate State of Judea.

A source in Samaria tells Israel Today that the State of Judea is already a de facto reality.

There is already a Jewish uprising happening in Judea and Samaria that the media and government are doing their best to hide from the public, said the source.

"The idea of splitting from Israel is gaining, for the sake of Israel as well," our contact said.. "More and more [settlers] understand that they are here despite the Israeli establishment, and they see more and more differences between the themselves and the Israelis."

This is especially true of the younger generation of Jews in Judea and Samaria, who "do not see themselves as “Israeli” and would be ready to die for the land."

The idea of a State of Judea has been around since 1988, when settler rabbis proposed it in response to PLO leader Yasser Arafat’s Declaration of Independence. Prominent rabbis began revisiting the idea in the wake of the Gaza pullout in 2005, and stated that if a large-scale withdrawal were ever ordered for Judea and Samaria, they would put the State of Judea plan in motion.

With the ongoing demonization of the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, both by the international community and by the left-wing institutions of their own nation, it would seem a forced uprooting is no longer required, and the splitting of Israel into two separate Jewish states is already underway.

So, while external diplomatic pressure may ultimately fail to divide the Land of Israel, it is succeeding in dividing the people of Israel, and that is a point for prayer that is often overlooked as we focus on the former threat.