JERUSALEM, Occupied Palestine – A month after US President Donald Trump formally recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention to build a new settlement in the region to take the name of the head of state American.
“In honor of President Trump, who acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, I will soon ask that a settlement be baptized on his behalf,” Netanyahu tweeted on Tuesday, April 23.
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
In a video posted on the Twitter account of Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for the prime minister’s office, Netanyahu said he intended to draft a resolution calling for such a settlement, “in honor of President Donald J. Trump,” after the Easter holidays.
PM Netanyahu will present to the government a resolution calling for naming a new community in the Golan Heights after @POTUS Donald Trump, as a token of appreciation for his recognition of Israel’s eternal sovereignty over the Golan. pic.twitter.com/buGR93lAob
— Ofir Gendelman (@ofirgendelman) April 23, 2019
The Golan Heights comprise a strip of Syrian territory, seized by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War, and formally annexed by Tel Aviv in 1981, although the United Nations did not recognize the Israeli claim to the region.
President Trump signed an executive order on March 25 officially recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the region, prompting the Syrian Foreign Ministry to respond that Syrians reserve the right to seek return of territory using any available methods, including military.
Syria has the right to retake the Golan Heights occupied by Israel anyway, not excluding military methods, Midhat Saleh, director of the Golan department of Syria’s Cabinet of Ministers in an interview earlier this month.
“The Golan Heights are an integral part of the Syrian territory, and we have the right to reclaim these lands at any time and in any way we deem appropriate. In my opinion, the only language Israel understands is the language of force and resistance. They will leave the Arab territories only under pressure from the resistance forces,” Saleh said.
“We are now at war with Israel, and we have this right because Israel does not recognize international resolutions and resolutions of the UN Security Council, and the US supports Israel in that regard, we have the right to recover the Golan Heights in the most appropriate way for us, including war or popular resistance. It is our right, guaranteed by international resolutions,” he added.