TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday that he is planning to name a community in the Golan Heights after President Trump, paying homage to the U.S. president’s recent decision to recognize the strategic plateau as Israeli territory.
“All Israelis were deeply moved when President Trump made his historic decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
“I intend to bring to the government a resolution calling for a new community on the Golan Heights named after President Donald J. Trump.”
The prime minister toured the Golan Heights with his wife Sara and their sons Yair and Avner during the intermediate days of Passover. They visited the ancient synagogue at Kfar Nahum and toured the Gamla Nature Reserve.
Trump made the decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights after “aggressive acts by Iran and terrorist groups, including Hezbollah, in southern Syria continue to make the Golan Heights a potential launching ground for attacks on Israel,” he said in statement in March.
The Arab world condemned the move.
Following Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, Transportation Minister Israel Katz announced that a train station leading to the Western Wall would be named after Trump.
“The Western Wall is the holiest place for the Jewish people, and I decided to name the train station that leads to it after President Trump — following his historic and brave decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel,” Katz said at the time.
The following year, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat announced that a public square near the relocated U.S. embassy would likewise be named after the President.