As seen in Monday’s Trump Tweets thread, over the weekend President Trump thanked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for establishing a new community in the Golan Heights that will be name after President Trump.
Thank you Mr. Prime Minister, a great honor! https://t.co/ozLz84g3i0
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 17, 2019
President Trump first thanked U.S. Ambassador David Friedman who attended the Sunday ceremony.
A great day on the Golan. PM Netanyahu and I had the honor to dedicate “Trump Heights” — first time Israel has dedicated a village in honor of a sitting president since Harry Truman (1949). Happy Birthday Mr. President!! @POTUS pic.twitter.com/fdYWzokFLK
— David M. Friedman (@USAmbIsrael) June 16, 2019
The AP reported that the settlement isn’t new, currently it’s known as Bruchim.
The ceremony to re-brand Bruchim, as “Ramat Trump,” which the AP notes is Hebrew for “Trump Heights,” occurred months after the President via tweet, announced that the U.S. would recognize Golan Heights as an Israeli territory.
After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2019
The Twitter announcement came just days before the Israeli Prime Minister visited the U.S., during which the President signed the Proclamation.
“Proclamation on Recognizing the Golan Heights as Part of the State of Israel” https://t.co/yAAyR2Hxe4 pic.twitter.com/VccUpjMJqZ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 26, 2019
The AP notes that Ramat Trump joins, “a handful of Israeli places named after American presidents, including a village for Harry S. Truman, who first recognized the Jewish state, and George W. Bush Plaza, a square the size of a modest living room in central Jerusalem.”
CNN reported that Friedman who attended the Sunday ceremony said, “I want to thank you for holding the cabinet meeting and for the extraordinary gesture that you and the State of Israel are making to the President of the United States,” he added, “It’s well-deserved, but it’s much appreciated.”
Netanyahu thanked the President, saying via CNN, “We are proud that we have the opportunity to establish a new settlement and to give thanks to a great friend. We will continue to grow and develop the Golan for all of our citizens — Jews and non-Jews together.”
As the News Blender reported in May, Netanyahu was struggling to form a coalition, following his re-election in April, the New York Times reported that in light of his struggle a new election is scheduled tentatively for September 2019.
According to CNN, an advocate of international recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights, Zvi Hauser tweeted “whoever reads the fine print in this ‘historic’ decision understands that it is a phantom decision,” he added, “there is no budget, there is no planning, there is no place, and there is really no binding decision.”
The Guardian noted that the settlement known as Bruchim, is a “sleepy, crumbling hamlet of fewer than a dozen Israeli residents surrounded by sun-parched fields of crisp hay. Weeds punctuate the cracked asphalt of a basketball court, its rusted hoops leaning at angles.”
For what it’s worth the AP does note that only 10 residents reside in the Bruchim now known as Ramat Trump, they also explain, “Developing Ramat Trump will not be easy. Ringed by high yellow grass and land mines, it is roughly 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Syrian border and a half hour drive from the nearest Israeli town, Kiryat Shmona, a community of about 20,000 people near the Lebanese border.”
