Netanyahu seeks to name Golan Heights town after Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced that he would soon introduce a resolution to a name a town in the Golan Heights after President Trump. 

“In honor of President Trump, who recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan, [I] will soon call for a settlement in the Golan Heights in his name,” Netanyahu said on Twitter, according to a Hebrew translation. “Happy holiday!”

“All Israelis were deeply moved when President Trump made his historic decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights,” Netanyahu said. “After the Passover holiday I intend to bring to the government a resolution calling for a new community on the Golan Heights named after President Donald J. Trump.”{mosads}

ממשיך לטייל עם המשפחה ברמת הגולן. לכבוד הנשיא טראמפ שהכיר בריבונות ישראל על הגולן, בקרוב אקרא ליישוב ברמת הגולן על שמו. חג שמח! pic.twitter.com/pnwngkr4XO

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) April 23, 2019

#BREAKING: Israeli PM Netanyahu says he will offer the goverment to approve naming a Village in the Golan Heights after President @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/pVuvREcPo5

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) April 23, 2019

Trump’s move in late March to officially recognize Israel’s claim over the Golan Heights shifted long-standing American policy regarding the disputed territory between Israel and Syria.

Israel seized the region during the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed it in 1981. But the U.S., as well as other nations, never formally recognized its claim. Instead, the nations said that future negotiations should settle the land’s status. 

“This was a long time in the making. Should have taken place decades ago,” Trump told reporters as he signed the proclamation in the Diplomatic Room of the White House.

Syria’s foreign ministry said in a statement at the time that “Trump’s recognition is a blatant attack on Syria’s sovereignty and its territorial integrity.”

Trump’s announcement came just weeks before Israeli elections in which Netanyahu secured a clear path to his fifth term as prime minister earlier this month.

Netanyahu’s challenger, Benny Gantz, conceded defeat with approximately 99 percent of the votes counted, saying “we didn’t win in this round” but that his Blue and White Party would “make Likud’s life hell in the opposition.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.