(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

 

At a festive meeting on the Golan Heights yesterday, the Government approved the establishment of a new community on the Golan Heights, to be named "Trump Heights" (Ramat Trump), after US President Donald Trump. US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman also attended the meeting.

 

Following the meeting a ceremony was held to unveil the sign for the new community with the participation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Government ministers.

 

Prime Minister Netanyahu at the start of the festive Cabinet meeting:

 

"This is an historic day for us. We are going to do two things: Establish a new community on the Golan Heights, something which has not been done for many years. This is an act of settlement and of Zionism of the first order. The second thing is to honor our friend, a very great friend of the State of Israel, President Donald Trump, who recently recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. He is the first international leader to have done so. He tore the mask off this hypocrisy, which does not recognize what is self-evident.

 

Menachem Begin said that he had passed the Golan Heights Law. Sometimes even the self-evident needs to be stated, which President Trump has also done in this case, as well as in moving the embassy to Jerusalem, in leaving the nuclear agreement with Iran, and is doing at the moment in standing steadfast against Iranian aggression in the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf and the region in general.

 

We are proud that we have this opportunity to establish the community and also honor a great friend.

 

I am very grateful to all of you who have come here. We will continue to build and develop the Golan for all its residents, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, and for the state as a whole."