On Dec. 27, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz decided to name a new train station in Jerusalem's Old City after US President Donald Trump. The station, which will be located just a few dozen meters from the Western Wall, has yet to be built. Construction would require digging a tunnel under the Old City, which would itself raise an outcry since it could cause potential damage to sites sacred to Muslims, Christian and Jews alike. Experience has shown time and again that just moving a stone in the Old City could set off a powder keg.

Both the United States and Israel announced recently that they were quitting UNESCO over that group's decisions concerning various sacred sites; the decision, which generated angry reactions in Israel and the United States, was made along with claims that the organization has become a political tool exploited to confront Israel. It was no surprise that UNESCO condemned Katz's plans and expressed its concern over changes to the status quo. But there is still time to face that problem.

For now, international reverberations surrounding the train station focus mainly on Katz's decision to name it after such a controversial president. In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, Katz explained that "the Western Wall is the holiest site to the Jewish people. I decided to name the train station leading to it after President Trump because of his bold, historic decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.’’

Katz didn't volunteer any information about whether he or senior figures in his ministry, or even senior figures in the Israel Railways authority — which planned the route to the Western Wall — considered any other names. After all, there are people with even closer ties to the holiest site for the Jewish people, both historical and political. They could have chosen, for example, Major Gen. Uzi Narkiss — head of the Central Command during the Six-Day War — who commanded the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that conquered the Old City. Or they could have chosen late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was chief-of-staff during the war, or then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan. The picture of all three of them at the Western Wall right after the paratroopers liberated it is etched into the collective consciousness of the entire nation. Or what about then-IDF chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren? When the Western Wall was liberated, he blew the shofar and recited the blessing "Who has sustained us and kept us and enabled us to reach these times," surrounded by soldiers brought to tears by the enormity of the moment.