Israel honors Trump with inauguration of 'Trump Heights' - David Rosenberg

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by David Rosenberg

US embassy officials join Israeli government ceremony in Golan Heights for naming of town after President Trump.

The US mission to Israel took part in a special naming ceremony in the Golan Heights Sunday afternoon, marking the formal naming of a new town in the Golan after President Donald Trump.

A sign at the entrance of the future town was unveiled during the ceremony for the yet-to-be built community of Ramat Trump, or Trump Heights.

The Israeli cabinet met Sunday in the Golan town of Kela Alon, near the site of the new community, to formally approve the establishment of Ramat Trump.

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman joined Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and members of his cabinet at the ceremony.

"This is a historic day,” Netanyahu said, sitting next to Friedman. “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, who recently recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, the first foreign leader to do so."

Trump Heights sign

Matty Stern/US Embassy Jerusalem

Following Netanyahu's comments at the special cabinet meeting in the Golan, Ambassador Friedman thanked the prime minister for the decision to name a new town after the American president, calling it an "extraordinary gesture that you and the State of Israel are making to the President of the United States."

"It is well-deserved, but much appreciated. We look forward to working with you and with the Government of Israel to continue to strengthen the alliance between the United States and Israel."

Some opposition members, however, criticized the event, calling a hollow “publicity stunt”.

Blue and White MK Zvi Hauser, who served as an adviser to Netanyahu in the 1990s, mocked the ceremony, saying the actual construction plan for Ramat Trump lacked any of the details necessary to build the town.

"What does a successful PR campaign look like? Exactly like this. The government will convene a festive meeting in the Golan and announce the establishment of a new community called ‘Ramat Trump.’ Anyone who reads the fine print in this ‘historic decision’ will understand that it is nothing more than a non-binding Fake policy. There is no budgeting, no planning, no location for settlement, and there is not really a binding decision to implement the project. But the main thing was that they insisted on deciding on a name for the dummy community."


David Rosenberg

Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264649

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