The Day

In meeting with governors, Biden criticizes Trump on the transition.

- By JOSEPH KRAUSS

Jerusalem — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday became the first top American diplomat to visit an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank as the State Department in a major policy shift announced that products from the settlement­s can be labeled “Made in Israel.”

The two moves reflected the Trump administra­tion’s acceptance of Israeli settlement­s, which the Palestinia­ns and most of the internatio­nal community view as a violation of internatio­nal law and a major obstacle to peace.

Pompeo also announced that the U. S. would brand the internatio­nal Palestinia­n- led boycott movement against Israel as “anti-Semitic” and bar any groups that participat­e in it from receiving government funding.

It was not immediatel­y clear which groups would be affected by the move.

Pompeo’s announceme­nts were largely symbolic and could be reversed by the incoming administra­tion of President-elect Joe Biden, who has promised a more evenhanded approach to Israel and the Palestinia­ns. Nonetheles­s, they illustrate­d the deep ties between the outgoing Trump administra­tion and the hard-line government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a Twitter post, Pompeo confirmed his visit to the Psagot winery, located in a settlement near Jerusalem, which released a blended red named for the secretary last year in gratitude for his stance on the settlement­s. Reporters were not allowed to accompany him.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States