Netanyahu says Israel will name new community in Golan Heights after Trump

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Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed he wants to name a new settlement in the Golan Heights after Donald Trump out of gratitude for US recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the territory.

The Israeli prime minister was touring the area on Tuesday and said there was a “need to express our appreciation” to his ally.

Mr Netanyahu said he would soon table “a resolution calling for a new community on the Golan Heights named after President Donald J. Trump”.

In March Mr Trump officially recognised Israeli sovereignty over the territory it captured from Syria in a 1967 war. Israel later passed a law to annexe the mountain plateau in 1981.

The move was unrecognised by most of the international community for several decades – until the Trump administration broke with other world powers and signed a decree recognising Israeli sovereignty.

“All Israelis were deeply moved when President Trump made his historic decision,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement made on the Golan.

The Israeli leader – who won re-election for a fifth term in office earlier this month – said he would bring the resolution to government after the Jewish Passover festival.

An estimated 20,000 Israelis live in Golan Heights settlements, which most of the international community considers an illegal occupation.

Mr Trump’s Golan move followed his decision in December 2017 to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, breaking with decades of US policy over the status of a city contested by the Palestinians.

The Israeli government has said separately that – in appreciation of the US president – it intends to name a proposed train station near Jerusalem’s Western Wall after the US president.

Additional reporting by agencies