Pompeo expected to visit Israeli settlement in parting gift
JERUSALEM ( AP) — U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s expected tour of a West Bank winery this week will be the first time a top American diplomat has visited an Israeli settlement, a parting gift from an administration that has taken unprecedented steps to support Israel’s claims to war-won territory.
The Psagot winery, established in part on land the Palestinians say was stolen from local residents, is part of a sprawling network of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that most of the international community views as a violation of international law and a major obstacle to peace.
The award-winning winery, which offers tours and event spaces, is a focus of Israel’s efforts to promote tourism in the occupied territory and a potent symbol of its fight against campaigns to boycott or label products from the settlements.
Pompeo’s expected visit, reported by Israeli media but not o cially confirmed, would mark a radical departure from past administrations, both Democratic and Republican, which frequently scolded Israel over settlement construction — to little e ect.
President Donald Trump has already broken with his predecessors by recognizing contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and repudiating the decades-old U.S. position that settlements are inconsistent with international law. The administration has also recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, seized from Syria in the 1967 war, where Pompeo may also pay a visit.
Trump’s Mideast plan, which overwhelmingly favored Israel and was immediately rejected by the Palestinians, would have allowed Israel to annex nearly a third of the West Bank, including all of its settlements.
The visit to the winery — which released a blended red wine named for the secretary last year — would be yet another gift to Israel in the final weeks of Trump’s presidency, even as neither Trump nor Pompeo have acknowledged President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
The visit could also burnish Pompeo’s credentials with evangelical Christians and other supporters of Israel should he pursue a post-Trump political career.
The Falic family of Florida, owners of the ubiquitous chain of Duty Free Americas shops, is a major investor in the winery. An Associated Press investigation last year found that the family has donated at least $5.6 million to settler groups in the West
Bank and east Jerusalem over the past decade. Since 2000, they have donated at least $1.7 million to pro-Israel politicians in the U.S., both Democrats and Republicans, including Trump.
One of the owners, Simon Falic, was not able to confirm Pompeo’s visit, but told the AP “it would be a great honor to welcome him and to thank him for his unwavering support of Israel.”
Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 war, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. Since then, it has built some 130 settlements and dozens of smaller outposts, ranging from clusters of mobile homes on remote hilltops to fully developed towns. Over 460,000 Israeli settlers reside in the occupied West Bank and more than 220,000 live in annexed east Jerusalem.
The Palestinians say the settlements make it nearly impossible to create a viable state — which was one of the main goals of the settlers who established them.
The settlers, most of whom oppose a Palestinian state and view Jerusalem and the West Bank as the biblical and historical heart of Israel, say they are the scapegoats for a long-standing approach to solving the conflict that was never going to succeed.