‘Great honor’ or ‘fake policy’? Israel dedicates new town named after Trump
A small town in Israel named after President Donald Trump in honor of his support for the Middle Eastern country was officially dedicated.
Known as Ramat Trump, or “Trump Heights,” the small community will be located in the Golan Heights, a disputed territory that Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War.
“This is a historic day,” stated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an unveiling ceremony held Sunday, as reported by upi.com.
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“We are about to approve construction of a new town in the Golan, something that hasn't happened in quite a long time ... and we'll be honoring a great friend of Israel, President Donald Trump.”
Trump celebrated the news, thanking Prime Minister Netanyahu for “this great honor” in a tweet posted Sunday.
Others, including Knesset member Zvi Hauser of the political coalition Blue and White, denounced the dedication as a publicity stunt.
“Anyone who reads the fine print in this ‘historic’ decision will understand that this is nothing more than a nonbinding, fake policy,” stated Hauser, as reported by the Times of Israel.
“There is no budgeting, no planning, no location for a settlement, and there is no binding decision to implement the project. But at least they insisted on a name for the settlement.”
Trump is not the first sitting U.S. president to have a town in Israel named in his honor. In 1950, a small town in Israel was renamed “Kfar Truman” in honor of then President Harry Truman for his decision to recognize Israel immediately after the nation declared independence in 1948.
Netanyahu announced earlier this year his plan to name a settlement in the Golan Heights after Trump, following the U.S. president’s decision to officially recognize Israeli control of the area.
“All Israelis were deeply moved when President Trump made his historic decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights,” explained Netanyahu in a short video in April.
Trump’s decision to recognize Israeli control of the Golan Heights garnered a denunciation from Syria’s foreign ministry, which claimed that the decision “makes the United States the main enemy of the Arabs.”
“The liberation of the Golan by all available means and its return to the Syrian motherland is an inalienable right,” declared the foreign ministry on state media, as reported by Reuters.
