Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu Wants to Name Golan Heights Settlement to Honor Donald Trump
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to name a new settlement in Golan Heights in honor of President Donald Trump to thank the U.S. for its support.
Netanyahu was touring the settlement this week when he said he would propose a resolution to name a new community after Trump.
“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 video released this week.
The announcement comes after Trump officially recognized Israeli sovereignty over the territory the country captured from Syria in 1967.
“Any possible future peace agreement in the region must account for Israel’s need to protect itself from Syria and other regional threats,” the Trump’s proclamation said. “Based on these unique circumstances, it is therefore appropriate to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.”
According to the Christian Post, at the signing of the proclamation in March Netanyahu said that Israel has “never had a better friend” than Trump.
The regional council governing Golan Heights also released a statement to the New York Times about Netanyahu’s proposal, saying the naming “complements the aspiration and the goal we have set to double the number of residents of the Golan with a decade.”
According to reports, Israel plans to increase the population in the Golan Heights — which was annexed by Israel in 1981 — to some 250,000 by 2048.
According to the Associated Press, some 20,000 Israelis currently live in Golan Heights communities.
The Syrian government has said the proclamation recognizing Israel over the area is a “blatant attack” on Syria. According to the Christian Post, Syria’s foreign ministry said the proclamation makes “the United States the main enemy of the Arabs.”
Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Lori Mizrahi/Stringer
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