Yesha () is a Hebrew

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

for " Judea, Samaria, Gaza" (, "Yehuda Shomron 'Azza") – a geographical area, roughly corresponding to the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

and

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

combined. ''Yesha'' is one of a number of terms used to describe the areas of former

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

, occupied by Egypt and Jordan and later became a part of a military governorate. The

Israeli Military Governorate The Israeli Military Governorate was a military governance system established following the Six-Day War in June 1967, in order to govern the civilian population of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the western part of Golan ...

was established by Israel in the

Israeli-occupied territories Israel has occupied the Golan Heights of Syria and the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It has previously occupied the Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula, Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and southern Lebanon as well. Prio ...

following the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

in June 1967, together with Sinai and Golan areas. In 1982, areas of Yesha were transferred from military occupation governance to

Israeli Civil Administration The Civil Administration (, '; ) is the Israeli governing body that operates in the West Bank. It was established by the government of Israel in 1981, in order to carry out practical bureaucratic functions within the Israeli Military Governorate ...

under the Ministry of Defense, whereas East Jerusalem was unilaterally annexed to Israel; the same year Sinai was returned to Egypt, while Western Golan was unilaterally annexed via the Golan Law. In 1994 and 1995, much of Yesha was transferred to autonomous rule of the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...

, under the Oslo Accords. Other acronyms used by Israelis for the West Bank portion are Shai ( ''Shomron VeYehuda'' – Samaria and Judea), and Ayosh ( ''Ezor Yehuda VeShomron'' – Judea and Samaria Area). The Yesha Council is the umbrella organization of the various municipal councils (local, regional, and cities) which represent

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

in the area. The

Judea and Samaria Area The Judea and Samaria Area (; ) is an administrative division used by the State of Israel to refer to the entire West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, but excludes East Jerusalem (see Jerusalem Law). Its area is split int ...

administrative division was established to govern Israeli communities within the boundaries of Yesha (in area C of the West Bank).

Not to be confused with

Aside from being an acronym, "yesha" () is also the Hebrew word for salvation. As such, it has been used as place name for a

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

in Israel, Yesha, and also features in the biblical name Yeshayahu (

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...

). In addition, neither of these uses is to be confused with

Yeshua Yeshua () was a common alternative form of the name Yehoshua () in later books of the Hebrew Bible and among Jewish people of the Second Temple period. The name corresponds to the Greek spelling (), from which, through the Latin /, comes the En ...

or Yeshu. {{Judea and Samaria Area Israeli settlement Israeli-occupied territories Acronyms Words and phrases in Modern Hebrew