Mike Pompeo makes quick trip to Israel to urge caution on annexation, China

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a lightening trip to Israel on Wednesday, one day in advance of the formation of Israel’s new government.

Pompeo’s discussions in his eight-hour visit to Jerusalem included the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, drawn up by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner; Israel’s dealings with China; and the threat posed by Iran.

Kushner’s plan, “Vision for Peace,” was unveiled in January. Of the numerous US plans for a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians since the 1967 war – when Israel took the West Bank and Gaza, making “land-for-peace” negotiations possible – it is the most friendly to Israel.

The plan allows for Israeli annexation of the strategic Jordan River valley and Jewish settlements on the West Bank. The Palestinians have rejected it, but the US wants the Israeli government to make a good faith effort to persuade the Palestinians to negotiate, before taking any dramatic steps.

As The New York Times reported, America’s Arab allies have warned the Trump administration that Israel’s annexation of Palestinian territory would be destabilizing to the region, including to some of them.

“If the United States, with President Trump’s peace proposal, gave Mr. Netanyahu a green light on annexation, it may have now changed to yellow,” is how the Times summarized Pompeo’s trip.

The New Israeli Government

Israel’s new coalition government takes office on Thursday. Neither of the two main parties was able to form a government in three elections held between April 2019 and March 2020. So the two leading parties – right-wing Likud and centrist Blue and White (Israel’s national colors) – have agreed on a power-sharing government.

The Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu will remain prime minister for the next 18 months, after which Benny Gantz, the head of Blue and White, will assume the post.

Until then, Gantz, who previously served as Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), will be Defense Minister. Gabriel Ashkenazi, also a former IDF Chief of Staff, will be Israel’s Foreign Minister.

Notably, Ashkenazi, whose mother came from Syria, took a strong position in condemning the Syrian regime, as it began to use chemical weapons against its own people, and he called on western countries to provide lethal support to the regime’s opponents.

While Netanyahu is keen to annex territory, the two former military officers are not. The power-sharing agreement between the two parties stipulates there should be no annexations before July 1, and, then, only in coordination with the US.

Most likely, Pompeo’s visit was intended to bolster Gantz’s position, as the Times suggested.

China

The US has long viewed the extensive commercial dealings many of its allies have with China as a national security risk. It has strongly expressed that concern to European countries in regard to Huawei’s involvement with their 5-G networks. Such US suspicions have only been amplified by the way China has handled the coronavirus crisis.

That was a big part of the message that Pompeo brought to Israel, a report in Breaking Defense, by Ari Egozi, a former defense correspondent for a major Israeli newspaper, explained.

Egozi’s story relied on Israeli sources. According to them, Pompeo “delivered a clear message” to “avoid further involvement of China in the Israeli economy,” even “if that means canceling projects already planned.”

China has invested nearly $11.5 billion in Israel, including purchase of one of the country’s largest dairy companies. But even Israeli officials are concerned about Chinese involvement at two strategic sites, one of which is a light rail that passes near the Ministry of Defense.

“Israeli sources told Breaking Defense that the new demands by the US will create problems in some major infrastructure projects,” but they also “concede that not complying with the US demands will have worse results for Israel.”

Iran

Both Netanyahu and Pompeo spoke strongly against Iran in remarks before their meeting. Addressing Pompeo, Netanyahu affirmed: “my appreciation for the strong position that the President and you and your administration” have taken against Iran—by withdrawing from the “dangerous” nuclear deal; tackling Iranian terrorism “head on;” and “continuing the arms embargo against Iran that has not stopped for a minute its aggressive designs and its aggressive actions against Americans, Israelis, and everyone else in the region.

“So I want to express our appreciation for that,” Netanyahu added, and “discuss how we can continue in our partnership” to combat and “roll back Iran’s aggression in the Middle East, in Syria, everywhere else.”

Pompeo spoke similarly. “The campaign that we have been part of to reduce the resources that the ayatollah has to inflict harm here in Israel and all across the world has borne fruit,” and “we’re going to stay at it.”

“As you talked about,” Pompeo continued, “even during this pandemic,” the regime is using its “resources to foment terror across the world, even when the people of Iran are struggling so mightily.”

However, it was unclear what, if any, further steps against Iran they are considering. Rather, it seemed that Iran ranked toward the bottom of the concerns that prompted Pompeo’s quick trip.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany