Pompeo: Trump plan is most realistic path to end of conflict
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration’s vision for peace is the most realistic path to end the conflict for the good of both Israeli and Palestinian people, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
“The Trump administration is with you,” Pompeo told the American Jewish Committee virtual conference on Sunday. “Nowhere is our support clearer than with how we’ve addressed the world’s number one state sponsor of antisemitism, the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
He mentioned US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the JCPOA nuclear plan, and said that the maximum pressure campaign is showing results. “We will continue to squeeze the regime until Iran behaves like a normal nation and stops threatening its own people and its neighbors,” he said. “[They] must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.” Pompeo stressed that the United States will always support Israel’s right to defend itself.
Speaking about the tensions between the US and China, Pompeo said that the administration is standing up to the Communist Party of China, “a growing challenge to the United States, Israel and to all free people.” He added that “Beijing’s opaque military buildup, reckless indifference to its internal obligations and disinformation campaigns endanger us all.”
“We all must be alert to the Chinese Communist Party’s threat to our way of life,” he continued. “Standing against bad actors is at the core of America’s values. Both of our nations are rooted in respect for God-given rights, individual freedom and human equality.”
The secretary announced that the State Department Commission on Unalienable
Rights, which focuses on human rights, will issue a report next month showing how “shared principles bring us closer to friends like Israel.”
Speaking about the global rise of antisemitism, Pompeo said that the US-Israel bilateral partnership is more vital given the rise in antisemitism around the world. “I truly do admire the crucial work that AJC is doing to fight back,” he noted. “With special Envoy Elan Carr, you pushed for the adoption and implementation of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. You’re confronting the vile BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] movement and textbooks that teach innocent Palestinian children to hate Jews.” He also added that “anti-Zionism is indeed antisemitism.” •