Aloney Habashan in the Golan Heights
Photo: Amir Duvdevani, TPS
Netanyahu announces spot chosen for community named after Trump
Existing village on Golan Heights to change its name; location picked in tribute to U.S. president's decision to end plateau's determination as occupied territory following its capture from Syria in 1967
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that a suitable spot in the Golan Heights was chosen for a new settlement to be named after US President Donald Trump;
however, the chosen place is an exciting community and not an uninhabited spot, and local residents reject the proposed plan.
The prime minister said he would establish a new community bearing the name of the American president, who acknowledged Israel's rule over the Golan, in April, shortly after the recognition was signed in Washington.
Road sign pointing to Qela and Bruchim (file photo) (Photo: Avihu Shapira)
Netanyahu announced the choice of place during a government meeting, and said that once a new government is sworn in, it will vote on the decision.
However, the place chosen for new community is an existing village called Beruchim, located in the plateau's north, that was repeatedly settled and abandoned over the years. It neighbors Qela, a bigger community, and functions as an extension of it.
Aloney Habashan in the Golan Heights (Photo: Amir Duvdevani, TPS)
Today, Beruchim is the home of 10 people, and several other newcomers who wish to establish a leadership seminar for pre-army teens in the settlement.
The community was established in 1991, by then-housing minister Ariel Sharon, who sent a group of new immigrants from the Soviet Union to live there. It was established near Qela and meant to be a thriving extension of it, but failed to live up to the expectations.
Residents of Qela were outraged about the decision to change their existing community's name, and hung signs protesting the move on their entrance gate, apparently under the impression that the entire perimeter of Qela and Beruchim will become the new Trump community.
Welcome to Bruchim (file photo) (Photo: Avihu Shapira)
However, the residents had false information, and it was clarified Sunday that the new settlement will not replace Qela, but rather built on top of Beruchim; a draft plan already exists and offers 110 new homes be built in Beruchim, that will house both religious and secular residents.
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Trump signed a decree recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in late March. The plateau was conquered from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War, along with the West Bank and Sinai. It is home to both Jewish communities and Druze villages, the of which whose residents were Syrian nationals before the war. Some Druze residents of the Golan still choose to remain as Syrian nationals.
