Pompeo headed to Israel to talk Iran and China risks

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will focus his conversation with Israeli leaders on efforts to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and the risks posed by Israel’s close relationship with China, he said in an interview Tuesday.

Pompeo is making his first international trip to Israel and is the first senior member of the Trump administration to travel abroad during the coronavirus pandemic. 

His visit to Israel on Wednesday comes one day before the swearing in of a new Israeli government after three national elections, with incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu continuing as prime minister in a power-sharing deal with his political rival Benny Gantz.  

Pompeo gave an interview to the conservative Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom ahead of his visit, saying it is important to have a meeting “face to face” with Israeli leadership and that precautions are being taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

“I think we can do this. Our medical teams have been in close contact. We are going to comply with all of our CDC guidelines and all of the requirements inside Israel as well,” Pompeo said.

“There are a whole range of issues that I want to discuss. The continued threats from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and how we will work together to deter them and to prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon,” he said. 

The secretary will also raise issues of Israel’s growing economic ties to China. Israeli officials have signaled continued cooperation with Beijing despite concerns raised by the U.S. 

“We recognize the deepening economic relationship with China and that presents opportunities,” Pompeo told the paper. “We want to share with them our views on the risks that come alongside that as well.”

Pompeo said the purpose of his visit is to bring Netanyahu and Gantz “up to speed on the progress” of the President Trump’s “vision for peace” – the administration’s plan for resolving the Israeli and Palestinian conflict that was announced in January. 

Netanyahu and Gantz are expected to bring for a vote to the newly-formed government the issue of beginning annexation of parts of the West Bank, territories identified in the Trump administration’s peace plan as belonging to Israel. 

U.S. and Israeli officials had earlier started detailing maps of the West Bank and identifying specific areas for Israeli annexation, although the team has not released any updated maps since the publication of the Trump peace plan in January. 

Those maps envisioned at least Israeli control over the entire Jordan Valley and Israeli communities in the West Bank, leaving disconnected Palestinian Territories to be encircled by Israeli security barrier.

Pompeo on Tuesday pushed back that the peace plan was not endorsed by Jordan and Egypt, key U.S. allies and the only Arab countries that maintain peace treaties with Israel.

Both countries initially offered muted support for efforts leading to a two-state solution, but ultimately were part of a later statement by the Arab League rejecting the Trump plan.

“We took account of their concerns in the Vision for Peace,” Pompeo said in the interview. “…we have created now a plan that leads to a better life for the Palestinian people, and that’s important to those Arab countries as well. We will continue to be in conversation with them. We hope that we can convince the Palestinian leadership that they should engage with the Israelis on the basis of the Vision for Peace.”

Palestinian leadership has not communicated with any White House officials since Trump ended funding in 2018 for the U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees and closed the Palestinian representative office in Washington.