USA TODAY International Edition
Politics and friendship put to high- stakes test
The president has the prime minister’s back – for better or worse
RAMAT TRUMP, Golan Heights – It’s been branded a hollow public relations exercise. It may not actually get built. And it’s surrounded by hostile military land.
But a planned Israeli community named “Ramat Trump” in Hebrew, or “Trump Heights,” about 12 miles from the Syrian border – right in the heart of territory the United States alone recognizes as legally Israel’s – nevertheless encapsulates a defining tenet of U. S. foreign policy: Every American president in modern times, citing shared history and values and an unshakable security commitment, has been staunchly pro- Israel.
President Donald Trump perhaps more than most.
“Trump’s a true friend of Israel,”
“Bibi, our king, wants to give Trump, the Americans’ king, something with his name on it.” David Katz, Golan Heights
said Haim Rokach, head of the Golan Heights Regional Council that oversees the fledgling “Trump Heights” initiative in Bruchim, a village with a population of seven to 10, that is part of Kela Alon, a larger adjoining community of 80- 90 families who are predominantly secular Israeli Jews.
Trump goes ‘ beyond’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a close relationship with Trump, which he tried to capitalize on in the country’s election Tuesday. Indeed, it was his idea to honor the U. S. president with “Trump Heights.”
It’s the first time Israel has named a new community after a U. S. leader since President Harry Truman. According to documents featured in his presidential library, Truman weighed “personal, political and strategic concerns” in 1948 when he went against the advice of the State Department and recognized the new Jewish state.
“Kfar Truman” is a moshav, or village, in central Israel.
Michael Makovsky, president and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, a Washingtonbased pro- Israel think tank, said he views Trump’s pro- Israel stance as more of a historical “reversion to the norm” after eight years of President Barack Obama. Obama and Netanyahu had a difficult political chemistry. Israel’s leader felt abandoned by Obama’s stewardship of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which Israel strongly opposed.
Makovsky said Trump has “gone beyond” other presidents on Israel.
He relocated the U. S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the holy city that Palestinians claim as part of their future capital. He withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement. Though most Western powers view Iran’s nuclear activities as a threat, for Israel, proximity to the Islamic Republic that periodically vows to “annihilate” the Jewish state is a daily existential worry.
Trump has overlooked Jewish settlement expansion on land claimed by Palestinians, closed the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s mission in Washington – its de facto embassy – and cut off U. S. funding to organizations that work on Palestinian issues. A long- promised Israeli- Palestinian peace plan from the White House was drafted by Trump’s son- in- law, Jared Kushner; Israel advisers Jason Greenblatt and Avi Berkowitz; and David Friedman, the U. S. ambassador to Israel.
All four men have deep religious and educational ties to Israel – factors that undermine their legitimacy as honest brokers in the eyes of many Palestinians.
“We see the Trump team as the Israeli team,” said Khaldoun Barghouti, a Palestinian analyst of Israeli affairs from Ramallah in the West Bank, a landlocked Palestinian area sandwiched between Israel’s eastern frontier and the Jordan River Valley.
The White House said the plan will be released after Israel’s election Tuesday in which Netanyahu faced a challenge from Benny Gantz, former head of the country’s military.
Exit polls indicated that neither politician’s party secured a majority, meaning they would have to enter into a coalition deal with opposition parties. It was the second election in less than six months in which Israel’s leader failed to win a majority, and there may need to be a third vote.
‘ Never had a greater friend’
Trump has boosted Israel in other ways.
Saturday, Trump tweeted that he spoke with Netanyahu to discuss moving forward with a possible mutual defense treaty between Israel and the United States. Makovsky, a former Pentagon official who has made recommendations to both governments on the pact, said it could operate in a similar way to NATO’s Article 5: An attack on one member is an attack on all.
“Thank you my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump,” Netanyahu tweeted in reply. “The Jewish State has never had a greater friend in the White House.” Trump has halted aid to Palestinians. “A lot of the infrastructure projects – schools, roads – have just stopped,” said Naser Qadous, a Palestinian who manages agricultural projects in the West Bank for Anera, a Washington- based organization that works on development and refugee issues.
‘ We don’t need Trump’
The Golan Heights is a fertile region of cattle ranches, orchards and vineyards.
The area is also filled with bunkers, tanks and impromptu war memorials.
On its southwestern edge sits the Sea of Galilee, where Christians believe Jesus performed miracles such as walking on water and feeding the multitude.
Though the Golan Heights has been administered as part of Israel since 1981, the United Nations and European Union consider it Israel- occupied Syrian territory. Trump signed a presidential proclamation acknowledging the validity of Israel’s claim March 25.
In Bruchim- Kela Alon, where it remains far from clear whether “Trump Heights” will get off the ground, Chicago- born David Katz was bothered by what he sees as many Israelis’ uncritical embrace of Trump because of his pro-Israel stance.
“Did you hear that Trump wanted to buy Greenland, and the Danes said, ‘ Thanks, but no thanks’? Well, he could get Israel for free. We’d love to be part of his kingdom,” said Katz, 50, sarcastically, as he sat on the porch of his home in an area captured by Israel from Syria during the Six- Day War in 1967, a brief but bloody conflict between Israel and the Arab nations of Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Israel emerged victorious.
“We don’t need Trump or anyone else to recognize Golan for us. It’s ours,” Katz said. “If this village deserves to be named after anyone, it should be ( Menachem) Begin.” Begin was the founder of Netanyahu’s Likud Party and Israel’s leader when it asserted civil administration over the Golan Heights.
“Bibi, our king, wants to give Trump, the Americans’ king, something with his name on it,” Katz joked. “Bibi” is Netanyahu’s nickname in Israel.
In this area ringed with dry, high yellow grass and weather- worn farming equipment, punctuated by smoke and loud booms from Israel’s frequent engagements with Iran- backed militants in nearby Lebanon and Syria, the idea of naming a development after Trump is not without its ardent supporters.
“Trump’s name will bring investment to our area for sure,” insisted Hilik Dahan, 49, a Bruchim- Kela Alon resident who rents out vacation cabins next to his home.
“The Israel- U. S. alliance is the best in history,” he said, repeating a variation on a phrase that can be heard over and over again in Israel: “Trump is our true friend.”
Others with a stake in what happens claim a “silent majority” on the “Trump Heights” issue. They have started legal action to prevent the development from moving ahead. They allege “Trump Heights” is little more than a brazen attempt by Israel’s government to flatter a president who has shown himself to be susceptible to honeyed words of admiration from North Korea to Saudi Arabia.
“The whole idea is complete political ( BS),” said Uri Sitnik, 59, a carpenter and pottery maker who lives in the community and helps to spearhead resistance to “Trump Heights,” which Israel’s opposition lawmakers said has no budget or plan.
For now, “Trump Heights” amounts to a large gilded sign with the U. S. and Israeli flags intertwined and the name of the community written in English and Hebrew.
The sign was unveiled with much fanfare during a ceremony in June attended by Netanyahu and Friedman, the U. S. ambassador to Israel who is a former lawyer for the Trump Organization, the president’s private business.
Then it was moved to the village’s dusty access road. The land around it was cleared of mines.
The back of the sign has been used as a message board for graffiti artists.
“Shlomo and Jacob were here.”