The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:30 PM

Israel To Name Future Train Station After President Trump In Honor of "Brave Decision" To Move U.S. Embassy From Tel Aviv To Jerusalem

Israel could end up naming a future train station at the Western Wall after President Trump in honor of his "brave decision" to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Israel’s transportation minister Yisrael Katz plans to extend Jerusalem’s soon-to-open high speed rail to the Western Wall. The plan involves constructing two underground stations and excavating over 2 miles of tunnel beneath Jerusalem and under the politically and historically sensitive Old City.

“The Western Wall is the holiest place for the Jewish people, and I decided to call the train station that leads to it after President Trump following his historic and brave decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel,” Katz told the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.


Transportation Ministry spokesman Avner Ovadia said the project is estimated to cost more than $700 million and, if approved, would take four years to complete.

Katz's office said in a statement that the minister advanced the plan in a recent meeting with Israel Railways executives, and has fast-tracked it in the planning committees.

Trump's announcement has enraged the Palestinians and much of the Muslim world. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution last week rejecting the U.S.'s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, with several traditional American allies voting in favor of the motion.

The Western Wall train proposal will likely face opposition from the international community, which doesn't recognize Israeli sovereignty over east Jerusalem and the Old City, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem and the Old City, home to Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites, as capital of a future state.

The Associated Press contributed to this report