Meet the 'Trump City' pioneers

"We have already received close to 100 requests, including Jews from Canada and the United States, who say they want to make aliyah and live in "Trump City."

By BENJY SINGER
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they pose in the Rose Garden at the White House this week (photo credit: REUTERS/LEAH MILLIS)
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they pose in the Rose Garden at the White House this week
(photo credit: REUTERS/LEAH MILLIS)
Since the announcement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the settlement "Trump City" that will be built on the Golan Heights, which will be named in honor of US President Donald Trump, the phone at the Golan Regional Council hasn't stopped ringing.
In fact, the council had to add phones lines at the information center due to the public interest and inquiries.
Despite the hype, construction hasn't actually started; neither has a formal name been decided upon.
The community to be established in the picturesque northern Golan Heights, is expected to accommodate some 97 families, but will probably expand beyond this. 
"We have already received close to 100 requests, including Jews from Canada and the United States who say they want to make aliyah and live in 'Trump City,'" Golan Regional Council head Haim Rokach said. "The increased interest to live here is throughout the Golan and not only in 'Trump City.' Some of the interested people have been referred to other communities."
Israel Hayom, revealed the demographics of the first group of residents of "Trump city;" 24 families, aged 21-42.
At the end of April, when touring the proposed area, Netanyahu said that a community or neighborhood on the Golan Heights should be named after Trump in appreciation for his decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the strategic plateau.
“I am here with my family and many citizens of Israel at the foot of the Golan Heights, happy with the joy of the holiday and our beautiful country,” Netanyahu said in a video post. “And there is more joy - a few weeks ago I brought President Trump’s official recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights forever.”
 
There are currently 33 towns and villages in the Golan, with the last one – Nimrod – established in 1999. Of the 33 communities, all but four were established by Labor governments from 1967, when Israel took control over the area, until 1977, when Likud first came to power.
According to CBS figures, there were 50,000 residents in the Golan in 2017, of which some 23,000 were Jews and 27,000 were non-Jews.