Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he would name a new town in the Golan Heights after President Donald Trump, according to a report from the Jerusalem Post.
“I will name a town in the Golan Heights after Donald Trump. I will soon bring this to be approved by the government,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister’s announcement comes after Trump announced in a March tweet that the United States would recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the territory, after decades of dispute with Syria regarding ownership.
“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!” Trump tweeted.
Trump’s tweet came at the end of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Israel in which he told reporters in comments that Trump made the right decision regarding the Golan Heights.
“Tonight, President Trump made the decision to recognize that that hard-fought real estate, that important place, is proper to be a sovereign part of the state of Israel,” he said, according to the AP.
Trump solidified his promise several days later, when Netanyahu visited the White House. During a joint press conference, the president told reporters that he had been “studying” the issue “for years” before making the declaring Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
“And this should have been done, I would say, numerous presidents ago,” he said. “But for some reason, they didn’t do it, and I’m very honored to have done it.”
Netanyahu thanked Trump for his commitment to Israel, and offered the same to the United States in return.
“We are willing to fight for our common values,” he said. “We’re willing to fight. You have an ally that is willing to take up arms in defense of liberty, in defense of our land, our people, and our common values.”
(Washington Free Beacon)
