Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked on Monday approved the formation of two local committees – Trump Heights on the Golan Heights, and Gva'ot Eden in the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council in the Jerusalem District.

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Shaked adopted the recommendations put forth by Interior Ministry Director-General Yair Hirsch to approve the two new local committees and delineate their respective geographical boundaries.

Trump Heights will be built on some 68 acres of land. While its construction had already been approved some time ago, Shaked's decision essentially affirms the transfer of lands from the community of Kela Alon toward the development of Trump Heights in terms of housing units, public buildings and open areas, a local industrial zone, and roads.

The approval for the establishment of Gva'ot Eden had already been granted in 1998, but opposition from various bodies throughout the years has put the project on hold. The community is expected to include some 452 housing units that are currently under construction, and around 270 additional housing units throughout 2022-23.

"Approval of the local committees for Trump Heights and Gva'ot Eden is another stage toward establishing these communities and getting [their construction] underway while implementing the goals of reinforcing the population, building new housing and public institutions," Shaked said.

"The establishment of the local committees is a direct continuation of the government's policy of developing communities," said Hirsch, the Interior Ministry's director-general. As for Trump Heights, Hirsch said: "We will continue developing the Golan Heights by establishing new communities and doubling the population."

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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.

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The community – which is still in its early stages – will house 97 families. These past few weeks its popularity has grown and due to a large number of inquiries, the settlement has even created a hotline.

"We have received close to 100 inquiries, mostly from families in the U.S. and Canada who say that they want to make aliyah and live in 'Trump city,'" Golan Regional Council head Haim Rokach said.

During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel captured the Golan Heights. While the area has long been contested and  U.S. administration's refused to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the region until Trump broke with that policy and noted that it should remain part of Israel due to its strategic importance.

The new community will be built at what is now part of Bruchim, which was founded in 1991 and whose population has steadily aged.

The official celebration honoring the decision by the Trump administration to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan will take place on June 12. Officials from the U.S. administration will be in attendance together with Netanyahu and other officials.

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