It's been months since Israel had its a high-profile visit. This is not just because of the coronavirus crisis but also because of the year-long political limbo and the three elections we have had.
But all this will end on Wednesday when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will arrive in Israel. For Pompeo, it is one of his rare trips in recent months. Speaking with Israel Hayom, Pompeo said "it's important for a number of reasons that we do this face to face," referring to his talks with senior Israeli officials on his visit.
Upon his appointment two years ago, he flew to Israel on the very same day. Now that Israel is finally about to swear in a government, the pro-Israeli secretary is back. He will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and General Gantz, as Blue and White leader Benny Gantz is often referred to by US officials.
Pompeo's visit is short because of the coronavirus crisis. He plans to discuss the implementation of the administration's newly unveiled peace plan. In his interview, Pompeo implies that there is a green light for extending Israeli sovereignty to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
"There are a whole range of issues that I want to discuss. The continued threats from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and how we will work together to deter them and to prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon. I want to bring them [Netanyahu and Gantz] up to speed on the progress we think we are making on President Trump's Vision for Peace. It is a pretty detailed and realistic and implementable concept and I wanted to share with them some of the work that we are continuing to do on that. Then there is a whole range of issues, certainly COVID-19, the work that we will do with our health experts working together to try to find therapeutic drugs and vaccines to the world. The list is long. We recognize the deepening economic relationship with China and that presents opportunities. We want to share with them our views on the risks that come alongside that as well."
Q: You mentioned the Vision for Peace, the main issue of the new government is the extension of sovereignty over areas of Judea and Samaria. How do you see this historic step?
"We will certainly have conversations with them on their plans, how they are thinking about that ... This is one of the topics we will certainly discuss."
Q: There was a report here in Israel that you are going to ask the prime minister and Gantz to delay this move.
"I have said previously that this is a decision that the Israelis will make. I want to understand how the new leadership, the soon-to-be new government, is thinking about that."
Q: From your point of view, is there still a green light to do it as was agreed in January?
"Again I am going to hear how they are thinking about. This is, in the end, an Israeli decision. We will certainly share our judgments as to how we can best execute the Vision for Peace that the prime minister agreed with, and we will have a good detailed conversation about that."
Q: About the sovereignty move, there are objections among some of the Arab states in the region like Jordan and the Gulf states. Is that an issue you are dealing with, are you trying to calm them?
"We have been in contact with all these countries. They are good friends and partners. We took account of their concerns in the Vision for Peace. You can see in the document how all of these various elements would come into play, we have created now a plan that leads to a better life for the Palestinian people, and that's important to those Arab countries as well. We will continue to be in conversation with them. We hope that we can convince the Palestinian leadership that they should engage with the Israelis on the basis of the Vision for Peace."
Q: Some are saying in Europe that the document would prevent peace, what's your view?
"This [document] is different than what has been said before, it is realistic. The previous efforts were not very detailed, they were impossible to implement. We think this meets the core requirements of both the Palestinians and Israeli people."
Q: I interviewed US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman last week, and he said that Israel could indeed apply sovereignty on Judea and Samaria communities in a few weeks.
"We have clarified what we believe international law permits. And we recognize Israel's right to make its own decisions, we have seen this before. We have seen when they have made a decision on a particular piece of land where Israeli courts have said 'No, this does not comport with Israeli law,' and again, this would be Israel's decision to make. We will certainly share with them our views on the best way, in our judgment, to proceed, consistent with what we have laid out in our Vision for Peace."
Q: Now that two years have passed since the US left the Iran deal, is Iran closer to a nuclear bomb, or farther away?
"What you can see is the failure of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [the Iran deal] to deliver on ensuring Iran could never have a nuclear weapon. We can see it now plain and simple. In October Iran will have the ability to build up their conventional weapon systems in ways that would make it even more possible for them to conduct terror around the world and to coerce and extort nations around the world, giving them even more space to continue to execute on a plan to ultimately increase the risk that they have a nuclear weapon someday. We know that the resources that were flowing as a result of the JCPOA, the billions of dollars that were flowing to the regime, enabled them to have the resources to do that, not only their terror campaign but to use it for research and development, we have seen this in their missile program. Our efforts have been to put pressure on the regime to change their behavior in ways that are consistent with their obligations to the international community and to get them to comply with the requirements of UN Security Council Resolution 2231. You can see, just by focusing for a moment on their missile program, that they have chosen not to do that."
Q: Are you considering new, tough steps against Iran in light of their ongoing actions in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq?
"President Trump has said clearly two things. One, the campaign that we have put, not just the economic sanctions, but the diplomatic isolation, all of the other elements of the effort, which are designed convince the Iranian regime to behave in a way that is consistent with international norms – that will remain. He has been very clear, we are not going to allow them to get a nuclear weapon. We will continue to take those actions that lead us to achieve those two objectives. Your point about them continuing to be in Syria and their support for Lebanese Hezbollah – it's true, they still have the capacity to do that. But I must say we have seen clearly, that their capacity to do that has been reduced. The Iranian regime is having to make difficult choices and the people of Iran are suffering because of those choices. They may have more limited resources, but they still have plenty of money to do what they need to do to take care of the Iranian people and yet they choose to take those precious resources and either give them to the ayatollah, for his own private benefit or to the benefit of other Iranian elites, or they choose to squander that on campaigns in Syria, or campaigns in Iraq. Those are the kinds of things that the regime ought not to be engaged in. It is much to the detriment of the Iranian people ... I hope the Iranian people will convince their leadership to make choices that are in the Iranian people's best interests."
Q: As far as you know now, what's China's role in the coronavirus crisis?
"Here is what we know for sure. The virus originated in Wuhan, China. The Chinese Communist Party knew about this virus in December of 2019. It was an awfully long time before there was a global pandemic declared by the World Health Organization. The Chinese Communist Party attempted to obfuscate this. They denied people the ability to talk, they didn't share this information quickly enough, they created enormous risk for the world. Those things are indisputable."
Q: What are you going to do about it?
"We are making sure that the whole world gets to see clearly what transpired and how it came to be and then, importantly, we are asking the Chinese Communist Party to open up, to be transparent. This is an ongoing crisis."
Q: Finally, I am just wondering how will you uphold social distancing during your meetings here?
"We are going to do that in a way that makes sure it would reduce the risks as much as possible. I think we can do this. Our medical teams have been in close contact. We are going to comply with all of our CDC guidelines and all of the requirements inside Israel as well. I am confident that we can have this meeting, it's important for a number of reasons that we do this face to face, I am confident that we can execute this in a way that does not increase risk in any material way to anyone."
