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Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled a new settlement in the occupied Golan Heights, named after US President Donald Trump.

At a naming ceremony on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu said Trump Heights honoured Mr Trump for his decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the territory.

Building work has yet to begin but a sign bearing Mr Trump's name and US and Israeli flags was unveiled.

Critics called the move a publicity stunt with no legal authority.

Israel seized the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. In March, the US became the first country to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the area since Israel effectively annexed it in 1981.

"This is a historic day," said Mr Netanyahu, hailing President Trump as "a friend of Israel".

US Ambassador David Friedman, who attended the ceremony, called the move "well deserved, but much appreciated".

Israel's premier pledged in April to name a new settlement after Mr Trump, soon after the president overturned decades of US policy by recognising Israel's sovereignty over the Golan.

The region is located about 60km (40 miles) south-west of the Syrian capital, Damascus, and covers about 1,000 sq km (400 sq miles).

The new settlement is expected to be built near Kela in the northern Golan Heights.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Netanyahu praises Trump for recognising Israel control of Golan

On Sunday, Israel's cabinet approved Mr Netanyahu's resolution for an "initiative to establish" a new Golan Heights community.

But the resolution falls short of declaring the establishment of a settlement, and no money has yet been earmarked for construction.

Political opponents of the scheme have also noted that, legally, no new localities can be established before Israel's elections in September.

"Anyone who reads the fine print in this 'historic' decision will understand that this is nothing more than a nonbinding, fake policy," former cabinet secretary Zvi Hauser told the Times of Israel.

"Let's hope President Trump does not know that his name is being used for this public relations exercise," he added. </s> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveils the sign for the new settlement

Israel's prime minister has renamed a settlement after his favourite world leader: Donald Trump.

The 30-year-old settlement in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights is currently known as Beruchim and has a population of 10 people, mostly elderly immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

It is around 12 miles from the border with Syria and surrounded by land mines and high yellow grass.

Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet has agreed in principle to rename the community Ramat Trump (Hebrew for Trump Heights), hoping this will encourage more Israelis to move there.

The move is also to thank the US president for his recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the territory in March.

In a ceremony on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu said Mr Trump was a "great friend" of Israel and that the Golan Heights is an "inseparable part of our country and homeland".

The ceremony was also attended by US Ambassador David Friedman, who said: "Few things are more important to the security of the state of Israel than permanent sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

"It is simply obvious, it is indisputable and beyond any reasonable debate."

Two days after Mr Trump's 73rd birthday, Mr Friedman said: "I can't think of a more appropriate and a more beautiful birthday present."

A huge sign was unveiled with the settlement's new name in gold, with US and Israeli flags.

Mr Trump tweeted afterwards that the renaming was a "great honour" and residents of the settlement were also pleased.

Vladimir Belotserkovsky, 75, said: "We certainly thank, and I personally, am satisfied by the fact that they're founding the new settlement named for Trump."

Rosa Zhernakov, a resident since 1991, said she hoped a bigger settlement would give "more security" from any possible return of the land to Syria.

Opposition politician Zvi Hauser described the ceremony as a cheap PR stunt, adding: "Whoever reads the small print on the 'historic' resolution understands that it is a dummy-resolution."

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and annexed it in 1981, a move most countries consider illegal.

Almost 50,000 people live in the Golan Heights, roughly half of them Jewish Israelis and half of them Arab Druze.

It is several hours from the economic centre of Tel Aviv and attracts little business besides some tourism and agriculture.

Syria wants the area back but, while it deals with conflict within its own borders, talks are unlikely. </s> AFP | Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman inaugurate ‘Trump Heights’ in Golan, on June 16, 2019.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday officially renamed a settlement in the disputed Golan Heights after Israel’s “great friend” Donald Trump, in a show of gratitude for the US president for recognising Israel’s sovereignty of the territory.

In a ceremony attended by several cabinet ministers and accompanied by song and speeches, Netanyahu unveiled the “Trump Heights” sign, featuring the Israeli and American flags to mark the renaming of Israel’s Bruchim settlement, which was created 30 years ago.

"The Golan is Israeli and will remain so always," Netanyahu declared in his inauguration speech, praising Trump for his strong support for Israel by becoming the first foreign leader to recognise the Golan Heights as Israeli.

Trump is "a very great friend of Israel who has taken a decision that has never before been taken", he said.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in 1981. Most of the international community considers the move illegal under international law.

Some 23,000 Druze, an Arab Muslim minority also present in Syria and Lebanon, live in the occupied and annexed portion of the Golan, while 25,000 Israeli settlers have arrived there since 1967.

The US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, attended the ceremony and called the renaming of the site “absolutely beautiful”.

“We all checked the history book… it almost never happens anywhere in the world that an entire community is dedicated in the name of a sitting president,” he was quoted by the Times of Israel as saying. “President Trump will be honored to be in that small cadre of Israeli heroes,” he said.

“My only regrets is that neither the president nor I are in the real estate business anymore because if we were, I’m sure it this would be high on our list for places that we would think about developing.”

Trump retweeted photos of the event, thanking Netanyahu and “and the State of Israel for this great honor!”

Trump’s recognition of the annexation of Golan Heights is not the first time the US president has shown his allegiance with Netanyahu and Israel. In May, 2018, Trump transferred the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem causing violent protests and condemnation from much of the international community.

Trump's embassy decision broke with decades of international consensus not to recognise the city as the capital of Israel, which took over mainly Palestinian east Jerusalem in the Six-Day War and later annexed it.

Israel considers the entire city its capital, but the Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

In Netanyahu’s speech on Sunday, the prime minister said the new settlement would “drive development of the Golan Heights", vowing his government will invest in building homes and roads, as well as education and tourism facilities.

But according to critics, the task of developing the settlement still requires overcoming several additional bureaucratic obstacles and with Netanyahu running for re-election in the second national election this year, it remains unclear whether he will be able to complete the task.

Zvi Hauser, an opposition lawmaker who formerly served as Netanyahu’s Cabinet secretary, called Sunday’s ceremony a cheap PR stunt.

“There’s no funding, no planning, no location, and there’s no real binding decision,” he said. </s> RAMAT TRUMP, Golan Heights — The Trump name graces apartment towers, hotels and golf courses. Now it is the namesake of a tiny Israeli settlement in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet convened in this hamlet Sunday to inaugurate a new settlement named after President Donald Trump in a gesture of appreciation for the U.S. leader’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the territory.

The settlement isn’t exactly new. Currently known as Bruchim, it is over 30 years old and has a population of 10 people.

Israel is hoping the rebranded “Ramat Trump,” Hebrew for “Trump Heights,” will encourage a wave of residents to vastly expand it.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” said U.S. Ambassador David Friedman, who attended Sunday’s ceremony. Noting that Trump celebrated his birthday on Friday, he said: “I can’t think of a more appropriate and a more beautiful birthday present.”

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in 1981. Most of the international community considers the move illegal under international law.

But during a visit to Washington by Netanyahu in March, just weeks before Israeli elections, Trump signed an executive order recognizing the strategic mountainous plateau as Israeli territory. The decision, the latest in a series of diplomatic moves benefiting Israel, was widely applauded in Israel.

“Few things are more important to the security of the state of Israel than permanent sovereignty over the Golan Heights,” Friedman said. “It is simply obvious, it is indisputable and beyond any reasonable debate.”

After the Cabinet decision, Netanyahu and Friedman unveiled a sign trimmed in gold with the name “Trump Heights” and adorned with U.S. and Israeli flags. Trump retweeted photos Friedman posted of the event and thanked Netanyahu “and the State of Israel for this great honor!”

Addressing the ceremony, Netanyahu called Trump a “great friend” of Israel and described the Golan, which overlooks northern Israel, as an important strategic asset.

“The Golan Heights was and will always be an inseparable part of our country and homeland,” he said.

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.

According to Israeli figures, almost 50,000 people live in the Golan, including about 22,000 Jewish Israelis and nearly 25,000 Arab Druze residents.

While Israel has encouraged and promoted settlement in the Golan, its remote location, several hours from the economic center of Tel Aviv, has been an obstacle. The area is home to small agriculture and tourism sectors but otherwise has little industry.

The eight-year Syrian civil war, which at times has resulted in spillover fire into the Golan, also could present an obstacle to luring new residents.

Rosa Zhernakov, a resident of Bruchim since 1991, said the community was excited by Sunday’s decision.

“We hope it will benefit the Golan Heights,” she said, standing outside her bungalow on one of Bruchim’s few streets. She said the revitalization of the settlement will mean “more security” for residents from any possible return of the Golan Heights to Syria as part of a future peace treaty.

Syria has demanded a return of the strategic territory, which overlooks northern Israel, as part of any peace deal. After the devastating civil war in Syria, the prospects of peace talks with Israel anytime soon seem extremely low.

Vladimir Belotserkovsky, 75, another veteran resident, said he welcomed any move to build up the settlement.

“We certainly thank, and I personally, am satisfied by the fact that they’re founding the new settlement named for Trump,” he said.

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.

Following Sunday’s decision to rename the community, developing the settlement still requires overcoming several additional bureaucratic obstacles. With Netanyahu running for re-election in the second national election this year, it remains unclear whether he will be able to complete the task.

Zvi Hauser, an opposition lawmaker who formerly served as Netanyahu’s Cabinet secretary, called Sunday’s ceremony a cheap PR stunt.

“There’s no funding, no planning, no location, and there’s no real binding decision,” he said. </s> Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled a new settlement in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights, named after US President Donald Trump.

Mr Netanyahu’s Cabinet convened in the tiny hamlet to inaugurate the settlement, named after Mr Trump in a gesture of appreciation for the president’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the territory.

The settlement, currently known as Bruchim, is over 30-years-old and has a population of 10 people.

Israel is hoping the rebranded “Ramat Trump”, Hebrew for “Trump Heights”, will encourage residents to help expand it.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” said US Ambassador David Friedman, who attended Sunday’s ceremony.

Noting that Mr Trump celebrated his birthday on Friday, he said: “I can’t think of a more appropriate and a more beautiful birthday present.”

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981.

Most of the international community considers the move illegal under international law.

But during a visit to Washington by Mr Netanyahu in March, just weeks before Israeli elections, Mr Trump signed an executive order recognising the strategic mountainous plateau as Israeli territory.

The decision, the latest in a series of diplomatic moves benefiting Israel, was widely applauded in Israel.

“Few things are more important to the security of the state of Israel than permanent sovereignty over the Golan Heights,” Mr Friedman said.

“It is simply obvious, it is indisputable and beyond any reasonable debate.”

After the Cabinet decision, Mr Netanyahu and Mr Friedman unveiled a sign trimmed in gold with the name “Trump Heights” and adorned with US and Israeli flags.

Addressing the ceremony, Mr Netanyahu called Mr Trump a “great friend” of Israel and described the Golan, which overlooks northern Israel, as an important strategic asset.

“The Golan Heights was and will always be an inseparable part of our country and homeland,” he said.

While Israel has encouraged and promoted settlement in the Golan, its remote location, several hours from the economic centre of Tel Aviv, has been an obstacle. The area is home to small agriculture and tourism sectors but otherwise has little industry.

The eight-year Syrian civil war, which at times has resulted in spillover fire into the Golan, could also present an obstacle to encouraging new residents.

Rosa Zhernakov, a resident of Bruchim since 1991, said the community was excited by Sunday’s decision.

“We hope it will benefit the Golan Heights,” she said, standing outside her bungalow on one of Bruchim’s few streets.

She said the revitalisation of the settlement would mean “more security” for residents from any possible return of the Golan Heights to Syria as part of a future peace treaty.

Syria has demanded a return of the strategic territory, which overlooks northern Israel, as part of any peace deal.

After the devastating civil war in Syria, the prospects of peace talks with Israel anytime soon seem extremely low.

Ramat Trump joins a handful of Israeli places named after American presidents, including a village for Harry S Truman, who first recognised the Jewish state, and George W Bush Plaza, a square the size of a modest living room in central Jerusalem.

Several bureaucratic obstacles will need to be overcome to develop the settlement. With Mr Netanyahu running for re-election in the second national election this year, it remains unclear whether he will be able to complete the task.

Zvi Hauser, an opposition lawmaker who formerly served as Mr Netanyahu’s Cabinet secretary, called Sunday’s ceremony a cheap PR stunt.

“There’s no funding, no planning, no location, and there’s no real binding decision,” he said. </s> Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a new settlement in the Golan Heights named after his “great friend” Donald Trump.

Netanyahu unveiled a sign at the proposed site of the settlement on Sunday bearing the name “Trump Heights,” and thanked the US President for breaking with the international community to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the region.

“We are proud that we have the opportunity to establish a new settlement and to give thanks to a great friend,” Netanyahu told a celebratory cabinet meeting at the site. “We will continue to grow and develop the Golan for all of our citizens — Jews and non-Jews together.”

The Golan Heights, which was seized by Israel from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967 and annexed in 1981, is regarded as illegally occupied territory by the global community. The UN Security Council has deemed Israel’s administration of the area “null and void and without legal effect,” and the UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, recently reiterated that position.

But Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty in the region in March, two weeks before that country’s elections, in what was seen as a major political gift to Netanyahu. The US is the only country in the world to recognize Israeli sovereignty in the occupied territory.

At Sunday’s unveiling, the Israeli leader went on to thank Trump for a number of pro-Israel decisions — while also joining the US in blaming Iran for the attack on tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week.

“President Trump did it [with the Golan], he also did it with Jerusalem, he did it with the transfer of the embassy, he did it with the exit from the Iran nuclear deal, he does it now with the strong stand against the aggression of Iran in the Gulf of Oman, in the Persian Gulf, and in the entire region,” he said.

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who sat next to Netanyahu during the festive cabinet meeting, praised the decision.

“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,” Friedman said. “It’s well-deserved, but it’s much appreciated.”

But opposition lawmakers in Israeli criticized Netanyahu’s announcement as a public relations exercise.

“Whoever reads the fine print in this ‘historic’ decision understands that it is a phantom decision,” Zvi Hauser, an advocate of international recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the Golan, said on Twitter. “There is no budget, there is no planning, there is no place, and there is really no binding decision,” he added. </s> Israel approved in principle on Sunday a new community named after U.S. President Donald Trump on Golan Heights, the contested frontier zone with Syria – but construction looked likely to lag given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political stumbles.

The “Trump Heights” project is intended to cement ties after Trump broke with other world powers to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the plateau in March.

READ MORE: Why is the Golan Heights so controversial?

At a special cabinet session in Beruchim, a sparse clutch of homes just 12 km (7.5 miles) from the Golan Heights armistice line with Syria, Netanyahu unveiled a sign labeled “Trump Heights” in English and Hebrew.

The sign was decorated with the Israeli and U.S. flags and planted on a patch of synthetic grass.

Israel captured the Golan from Syria in a 1967 war and later annexed and settled it – moves not accepted by most world powers, who deem it to be occupied Syrian territory.

Ongoing hostilities between Israel and Syria, and internal Syrian fighting that drew Iranian-backed auxiliaries to back Damascus and deploy near the Golan, helped Netanyahu make his case for Trump to recognize the Israeli claim of sovereignty.

Trump similarly delighted Israelis – while appalling other world powers – by recognizing Jerusalem as their capital and withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

“Trump is a great friend of Israel,” Netanyahu said.

“He has torn the mask off this hypocrisy which doesn’t recognize the obvious.”

READ MORE: Israeli aircraft strikes Syria after rockets fired at Golan

Israeli authorities hope a revamping of Beruchim, home to an aging immigrant community from the former Soviet Union, to “Trump Heights” might bring a resident influx.

But a June 12 memorandum from Netanyahu’s office showed the plan was far from implementation: it lacks earmarked funds as well as final approval for its precise location and name.

“In this (cabinet) resolution, it is proposed that the name of the community, if it is founded, be ‘Trump Heights’,” said the memorandum, signed by a deputy legal counselor, Yael Cohen.

READ MORE: Canada says it doesn’t recognize Israeli control over disputed Golan Heights

The hesitancy was in part due to the fact that Netanyahu heads a caretaker government, having failed to form a coalition after coming ahead in Israel’s April 9 election. The conservative four-term premier must now contest a Sept. 17 vote.

In such an interval, Cohen wrote, legal rulings “require, as a general rule, restraint in decision-making” by the cabinet.

“Whoever reads the small print on the ‘historic’ resolution understands that it is a dummy-resolution,” tweeted Zvi Hauser, an ex-Netanyahu cabinet secretary now with an opposition party.

Netanyahu’s political flailing has tested the patience of Trump, who earlier this month said Israel was “all messed up” over the election and needed to “get their act together.”

The upheaval appears to have put a spanner in the works of a long-awaited U.S. proposal for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Trump advisers had predicted the plan would be made public this month, but officials now say that is unlikely to happen until after the September election. </s> In what critics denounced as an obscene celebration of land theft and a violation of international law, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday showed his appreciation for U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize the occupied Golan Heights as Israeli territory by unveiling a new illegal settlement named “Trump Heights.”

As Common Dreams reported, Trump’s recognition of the occupied Syrian territory as Israeli property in March was widely condemned by international observers.

“This is a historic day,” Netanyahu said after dramatically uncovering the “Trump Heights” entry sign, emblazoned with large gold letters.

As Haaretz reported, no new community was actually established in the occupied Syrian territory on Sunday, as the move must be approved and finalized by the government.

“There isn’t really any settlement there yet, just a sign, just as there isn’t any reality to Trump more generally, just an empty suit,” historian and Middle East expert Juan Cole wrote in a blog post on Monday.

“Given that Trump is a narcissistic fraud, it is appropriate that his name be attached to the illegal Israeli theft of Syrian territory. In fact, we should just call the Occupied Palestinian Territories in general Trumpland, a fraud and form of robbery like his ‘university’ and ‘steaks’ and ‘airline,'” Cole wrote. “Trump Heights is such a great name for the colony built on theft, since Trump’s whole life has been about being wealthy and powerful enough to escape the consequences of his crimes.”

Others expressed similar disgust at Netanyahu’s announcement, which was quickly hailed by Trump as a “great honor.”

“Blatant theft: with no legal jurisdiction whatsoever and in flagrant violation of international law, Israel re-names part of Syria after Trump,” tweeted activist Sarah Wilkinson. </s> US President Donald Trump will sign an order recognising Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights when he meets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Monday, Israel's foreign minister said.

"President Trump will sign tomorrow in the presence of PM Netanyahu an order recognising Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights," Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

Again breaking with longstanding international consensus, Trump said on Thursday that the United States should acknowledge Israeli sovereignty over the strategic plateau it seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.

He however left unanswered if or when he would follow through with an order to do so.

Netanyahu has long pushed for such recognition, and many analysts saw Trump's statement, which came in a tweet, as a campaign gift ahead of Israel's April 9 polls.

The prime minister is locked in tough election campaign with a centrist political alliance headed by former military chief Benny Gantz and ex-finance minister Yair Lapid.

Syria and other states in the region condemned Trump's pledge, saying it violates international law. France said the same.

Israel annexed the Golan in 1981 in a move never recognised by the international community.

The decision is the latest major move in favour of Israel by Trump, who in 2017 recognised the disputed city of Jerusalem as the country's capital.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally unveils Trump Heights, a new settlement in the Golan Heights, named after U.S. President Donald Trump for his decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the occupied territory.