Israel to name new town in Golan after Trump: Netanyahu
Israel said on Tuesday it would name a new community in the
Golan Heights after US President Donald Trump as an expression of gratitude for
his recognition of its claim of sovereignty over the strategic plateau, Reuters reported.
Israel captured the Golan from Syria in a 1967 war and
annexed it, in a move not recognized internationally. The United States broke
with other world powers last month when Trump signed a decree recognizing
Israeli sovereignty there.
“All Israelis were deeply moved when President Trump made
his historic decision,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a
video statement made on the Golan.
He added that, after the Jewish Passover festival, he would
“bring to the government a resolution calling for a new community on the Golan
Heights named after President Donald J. Trump.”
Trump’s Golan move followed his decision in December 2017 to
recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, breaking with decades of US policy
over the status of a city contested by the Palestinians.
Israel has said separately that, in appreciation of the US
president, it intends to name a proposed train station near Jerusalem’s Western
Wall after him.