Pompeo wraps up tour by visiting Israel museum
JERUSALEM: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrapped up a trip to Israel on Friday with a visit to a museum in Jerusalem that honours Christian Zionists and was founded by a prominent evangelical adviser to the Trump administration.
The museum visit came a day ater Pompeo became the first secretary of state to visit an Israeli setlement in the occupied West Bank.
He also announced a new policy allowing setlement products exported to the US to be labeled “made in Israel” and a new initiative to combat the Palestinian-led international boycot movement.
The Friends of Zion Museum was founded by Mike Evans, a prominent evangelical supporter of Israel. Pompeo did not deliver any public remarks at the museum and departed Israel midday.
Christian Zionism is a belief by some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 were in accordance with biblical prophecy.
Evangelical Christians are among President Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters and have hailed his unprecedented support for Israel.
They would also be an important constituency should Pompeo pursue elected office following Trump’s presidency.
The Trump administration has broken with decades of US policy to support Israel’s claims to territory seized in war and to isolate and weaken the Palestinians.
It moved the US Embassy to contested Jerusalem, adopted the position that setlements are not contrary to international law, recognised Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights — which Pompeo also visited on Thursday — and released a Mideast plan that overwhelmingly favored Israel and was rejected by the Palestinians.
Biden is opposed to setlement construction and has vowed to adopt a more evenhanded approach aimed at reviving peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Separately, Israel has accused Lebanon of changing its position in talks on their disputed maritime border and warned it could lead to a “dead end” that would be damaging for the whole region.
“Lebanon has changed its stance on its maritime border with Israel seven times,” Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz tweeted late Thursday.
“Its current position contradicts not only its previous one, but also Lebanon’s stance on its maritime border with Syria, which takes into account Lebanese islands close to the border,” Steinitz said. On Friday, the Lebanese presidency dismissed the Israeli accusations of Lebanon changing its position seven times as “unfounded.”