A Glitz-Free Place Named for Trump? Welcome to the Golan Heights.

Seven years ago, Israel announced with great fanfare the establishment of Trump Heights, a settlement named for the glitz-loving American president. Today, despite the name, the place is about as far from the Trump aesthetic as imaginable. The community is home to about 27 families living in a tight cluster of spartan, prefabricated homes in the rugged north of the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, a few miles from the volatile frontiers with Lebanon and Syria. The location would not appeal to everyone, but for some residents, the location is kind of the point. Trump Heights sits in a remote corner of the strategic plateau, with commanding views across northern Israel. The New York Times Its birth followed President Trump’s decision in 2019 to formally recognize Israeli authority over the long-disputed Golan, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed. The Trump proclamation, citing security imperatives, reversed decades of American policy and flouted international opinion, which broadly views Israel’s occupation and annexation of the area as illegal. (Colombia became the second country to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights last month.) We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .