US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on a whirlwind visit to Jerusalem Wednesday, called for “progress” on the implementation of the American proposal for Israeli-Palestinian peace, but stopped short of specifically addressing the timing of Israel’s planned annexation of large parts of the West Bank.
“We’ll get a chance also to talk about the ‘Vision for Peace,’” he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his official Jerusalem residence, referring to the administration’s peace plan unveiled in January.
“There remains work yet to do, and we need to make progress on that. I am looking forward to it,” he said, ahead of their meeting.
The US administration has said it would recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire Jordan Valley and all Israeli settlements across the West Bank in exchange for assurances that Jerusalem would be ready to negotiate a peace deal with the Palestinians based on President Donald Trump’s plan.
Various reports suggested that the administration may want to ask the Israeli government not to rush into applying sovereignty, but Pompeo has repeatedly said that annexation is an Israeli decision.
Netanyahu, in his remarks, briefly referred to the peace plan. “Now we’re about to form a national unity government,” he said, referring to the coalition government between his Likud party and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White that will be sworn in Thursday.
“This is an opportunity to promote peace and security based on the understanding that I reached with President Trump in my last visit to Washington in January,” he said.
The US has reportedly been seeking to pull Israel away from China’s sphere, including discouraging deals that would see Chinese companies contracted to build Israeli infrastructure, amid growing tensions between Beijing and Washington over the source of the virus and China’s initial crackdown on information about it.
The third issue on the agenda was Iran. “There is something else plaguing our region — unremitting Iranian aggression and terror,” Netanyahu said. He thanked the US president for his resolute stance against the Islamic Republic, including the administration’s current efforts to extend an international weapons embargo against the regime.
“I want to express our appreciation for that and also discuss how we can continue in our partnership to combat and confront and rollback Iran’s aggression in the Middle East, in Syria and everywhere else,” Netanyahu said.
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