Pompeo move on settlements criticized
• The U.S. has controversially announced it will require produce from Jewish settlements in the West Bank to be labelled “made in Israel,” as Donald Trump's chief diplomat made an unprecedented visit to the Golan Heights territory.
During his farewell tour of Israel, Mike Pompeo, the U.S. secretary of state, also announced a crackdown on the Israeli boycott movement, as it was “anti-Semitic.”
Settlements in the West Bank are widely regarded as illegal under international law, though Washington and Israel dispute this, while settler goods on sale in the U.S. cannot currently be labelled as products of Israel.
On Thursday, Pompeo also pledged that he would “immediately take steps to identify organizations that engage in hateful BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) conduct and withdraw U.S. government support.” “We will regard the global anti-Israel BDS campaign as anti-Semitic,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the announcement “simply wonderful.”
Pompeo became the first U.S. secretary of state to pay an official visit to an Israeli settlement as he toured a winery in the West Bank.
Palestinian leaders condemned the settlement visits, and the announcement regarding settler goods in particular, which one official warned was a “step to supporting the occupation.”
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas said it was a “flagrant challenge to international legitimacy decisions.”
The announcements are likely to create an enormous headache for the incoming U.S. president Joe Biden, who aims to adopt a more even-handed approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
But it may grant Pompeo deeper support among his base of evangelical Christians, amid reports he intends to run for president in 2024.
Britain has maintained its position that settlements breach international law and has called on the Israeli government to cease expansion efforts.
It came as Boris Johnson faced pressure to adopt the U.S. stance on Israeli boycotters, having pledged to pass his own anti-BDS law after his election win last year.
“The Conservative party made an important manifesto commitment to stopping public bodies engaging in boycotts of Israel and I look forward to seeing this introduced as soon as possible,” said Lord Pickles, the U.K.'s special envoy for post-Holocaust issues and Conservative Friends of Israel chairman.
However, human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned Pompeo's stance on BDS.
“The Trump administration is undermining the common fight against the scourge of anti-Semitism by equating it with peaceful advocacy of boycotts,” said Eric Goldstein, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.