Trump Hotel set to open in war-torn city sparking fears skyscraper will become terror target

Daily Mail​

3 days ago

The Trump family's plans to open a new hotel in war-torn Israel have sparked fears it could become a terror target as tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate.
The first family is eying the under-construction Sarona Hotel in Tel Aviv as it continues to expand in the region
While the Trump Organization has not officially said it is partnering with the Sarona, Eric Trump told The New York Times there have been 'strictly preliminary' discussions about the Israeli market.
'Israel has always been a market we would love to explore,' he told the outlet.
The 47-floor hotel - which could become larger if Eric gets his way, sources said - is in a ritzy neighborhood in the capital city.
On June 13, the trendy area got caught up in the conflict between Israel and Iran when the latter bombed Tel Aviv as part of retaliatory strikes.
Local businesses were left covered in shattered glass and debris after Iran responded forcefully to Israel's strikes against its military facilities in its capital of Tehran.
With Israel involved in a war with Hamas in Gaza and currently in a temporary ceasefire with Iran, the Middle Eastern country is a point of contention.
Peter Bazeli, managing director of Weitzman, believes any Trump-branded property is 'clearly at risk of becoming a target'.
'It's not only at the center of the US government, but it also hits the president's pocketbook,' he told The New York Times.
The discussion about a partnership between the Trump Organization and the Sarona happened in the Spring, sources told The Times.
Records showed that the Trump name might be affixed to the outside and the family's company would manage the hotel.
These talks occurred before the Iranian-Israeli conflict began and before the US bombed Iran's nuclear sites.
Before the attacks, Eric reportedly said he wanted to get one deal struck in Israel by the end of the year. It is unclear if the president's son still wishes to achieve this.
The Trump Organization has already struck many deals in the Middle East to license the family name on luxury properties, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar,
The Trump Administration has even proposed an idea to take over Gaza and make it a resort.
The idea faced backlash from world leaders who said two million Gazans would have to be displaced for the idea to happen.
But more deals are expected, with up to 30 in the making, sources told The Times.
Many of the Trump family's plans are international and the president has been trying to get into Israel's hotel market for two decades.
In 2016, after his presidential victory, his company retracted a deal from a 61-story hotel in Tel Aviv.
The company tried again for a hotel in Jerusalem after Trump lost the 2020 victory, but ultimately pulled out of the deal due to the October 7 attack on Israel, The Times reported.
The Jerusalem hotel was owned by Nitsba, the same company which holds the Sarona.
However, it it is unclear how far into the deal the Trumps were or if the Sarona Hotel will bear the Trump name once completed.
Daily Mail has reached out to the Trump Organization and Nitsba Group for comment.
Not all prospects are lost however, as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have agreed to end the war in Gaza after the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites.
The two leaders agreed that four Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, would jointly govern the strip in place of Hamas, Israel Hayom is reporting.
Leaders of the Hamas terror group would be exiled and all hostages released, a source is said to have told the outlet.
But it remains unclear how such a proposal would be implemented, with Hamas vowing it will not leave the territory and Arab states repeatedly asserting that they would not step into a governing role.