A special cabinet meeting was held in the Golan Heights Sunday to lay the cornerstone of Trump Heights, a new Israeli community named after US President Donald Trump.
The groundwork on Trump Heights began a few days ago, and the sign marking the entrance to the community was unveiled on Saturday.
US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman took part in the meeting.
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In a gesture of appreciation for Trump's announcement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would name a new Golan Heights community after Trump. As soon as Netanyahu made the plan public, the Golan Regional Council was flooded with requests for information about the new community. Over the past few weeks, the council has received more requests following the publication of the community's exact location, which lies in the northern Golan Heights.
"Hundreds of people have reached out, many of them Jews from Canada and the US who are saying they want to make aliyah and live in 'Trump City,'" says head of the Golan Regional Council Haim Rokach.
"There is an awakening of interest for all the communities in the Golan, not just the new one, but the unbelievable flood started with the announcement. We are referring some of the applicants to other communities," Rokach said.
Last month, Israel Hayom reported that a group of potential new residents of Trump Heights was already making plans to move to the new community. The group includes 24 families and young couples ages 21-42. The "garin," as such groups are known in Hebrew, has changed its named from "Garin Golan" to "Garin Haggai," after Staff Sgt. Haggai Ben Ari, a Golan resident who was killed in Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
"It was important to us to receive permission from the family, as well as Haggai's widow, first," said Sagi Hadashi, 29, the founder of the garin who currently lives at Ramat Magshimim.
"She was moved, and wished us luck and gave us her blessing, and since then that's been the name of our group," Hadashi said.
