Tel Aviv Suburb Races To Become First Israeli City To Name Town Square For Trump

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By Aiden Pink May 7, 2019

Petach Tikvah will become the first city in Israel to name a town square after President Trump when it does so in July, mayor Rami Greenberg said Monday.

The dedication, which is expected to take place on the 4th of July after a few months of renovations to the site, is “in gratitude to and appreciation to the president for his unwavering support of Israel,” Greenberg said in a statement, according to Hamodia. Being the first to name a location after Trump would be “a great honor for Petach Tikvah.”

Greenberg said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman would be invited to the dedication ceremony.

While the square in Petach Tikvah, outside Tel Aviv, will likely be the first Israeli location to be named after Trump, it likely won’t be the last.

Netanyahu pledged last month to name a new community in the Golan Heights after Trump to honor the president’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the area, which was captured from Syria in 1967.

And Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said in 2017 that he wanted to name a train station near the Old City of Jerusalem after Trump in commemoration of his recognition of the city as the capital of Israel. Katz said last week that the official announcement of the naming would take place on Israel’s Independence Day, May 8.

Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter at @aidenpink.

Aiden Pink is the Deputy News Editor for the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink.

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