The diplomatic visit will be the first since Israel closed its borders to foreigners in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
By LAHAV HARKOVUS SECRETARY OF State Mike Pompeo and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman stand next to the dedication plaque at the US Embassy in Jerusalem in March(photo credit: JIM YOUNG/REUTERS)
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to arrive in Israel next week, sources confirmed on Wednesday.The diplomatic visit will be the first since Israel closed its borders to foreigners in light of the coronavirus pandemic.Pompeo’s arrival comes on the heels of his statement last month that it would be Israel’s decision whether to annex parts of the West Bank or not.“We will work closely with them to share with them our views on this in a private setting,” he said in a State Department briefing.This week, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman clarified the conditions for US support for Israel applying sovereignty to all settlements, Biblical sites and the Jordan Valley. The first is the completion of a map by the joint US-Israeli committee, which began working in February. Friedman said that the committee met in recent weeks. It is on track to finish the mapping, pending “judgment calls in Israel’s court,” by July 1, the date Netanyahu set for annexation in his coalition agreement with Blue and White leader Benny Gantz.The second condition, about which there had been some confusion, is simply that Netanyahu show he is committed to US President Donald Trump’s peace plan and all it entails, including freezing settlement activity outside the 30% of Judea and Samaria delineated by the mapping committee, and express a willingness to negotiate with the Palestinians to form a state in the rest of the West Bank.“Netanyahu needs to communicate that to Abu Mazen,” Friedman told the Post on Tuesday, referring to the PA president. “The expectation is that the prime minister will agree to negotiate – and if the Palestinians show up, he will negotiate in good faith based on this plan.”“I don’t see this as anything more than a commitment by the prime minister,” the ambassador added.Friedman further clarified: “As a new government is formed, it would be appropriate for [support for the Trump plan] to be re-upped by the leader, and then to proceed in good faith on that basis.”US support for settlement annexation is not contingent on the Palestinian response to Netanyahu’s willingness to hold talks.
No vote in the cabinet or Knesset on allowing for a Palestinian state would be necessary unless something came of the negotiation.In relation to Israel, the secretary of state spoke of a need for Iran to leave Syria, where they are endangering the Golan.Pompeo would not confirm the trip at his press briefing on Wednesday, but said there would be an announcement. However, the US State Department released a statement on Friday night confirming the visit.In the statement, the State Department said that Pompeo would meet with Netanyahu and Gantz "to discuss US and Israeli efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as regional security issues related to Iran’s malign influence."
