Pompeo visits West Bank settlement, in parting gift to Israel's Netanyahu (updated)

Foresight Autonomous Holdings

19/11/2020 09:18

(Adds details of visit)
    * Pompeo tours settlement winery
    * Also plans visit to Israeli-occupied Golan Heights
    * Trump White House has backed Israeli settlement policy
    * Palestinians accuse U.S. of supporting occupation

    By Rami Amichay and Ali Sawafta
    SHAAR BINYAMIN, West Bank, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Mike Pompeo on
Thursday paid the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state to an
Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, in a parting show
of solidarity with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the
outgoing Trump administration.
    Palestinians accused Pompeo of helping Israel to cement its
control over West Bank land that they seek for a state after he
made a trip to the Shaar Binyamin winery near the settlement of
Psagot, just north of Jerusalem.
    To Israel's delight and Palestinian dismay, Pompeo in 2019
broke with decades of American foreign policy to announce that
the U.S. under President Donald Trump no longer viewed Israel's
settlements as "inconsistent with international law".
    Palestinians and much of the world regard the settlements as
illegal under international law.
    After meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday morning Pompeo
travelled to the West Bank to visit the settler winery, which
has a blend named after him. 
    He also issued guidelines for Israeli products made in
settlements to be labelled "Made in Israel" or "Product of
Israel" when imported to the United States, removing the
distinction between products made within Israel and those
produced in occupied territory.
    Pompeo's visit departed from past policy that had kept top
U.S. officials away from settlements, which Palestinians view as
obstacles to a viable future state.
    Palestinian negotiator Hanan Ashrawi accused Pompeo of using
Trump's final weeks in office "to set yet another illegal
precedent, violate international law and perhaps to advance his
own future political ambitions".
    "Pompeo is intoxicated by apartheid wine stolen from
Palestinian land. It is opportunistic and self-serving, and it
damages the chances for peace," Ashrawi told Reuters.
    Wasel Abu Youssef, a senior member of the Palestine
Liberation Organization, also denounced his labelling
announcement.
    "This is totally rejected. It reaffirms the partnership
between President Trump and the occupation," he said.
    It is unclear whether Trump's decision on settlements would
be reversed by a Biden administration, amid Israeli concerns he
will take a tougher line on the issue.

   GOLAN HEIGHTS
    Before heading to the West Bank, Pompeo said he also
intended to visit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. 
    In 2019 Trump formally recognised Israel's sovereignty over
the area of the strategic plateau that it captured from Syria in
1967 and later annexed in a move not recognised by the United
Nations and most countries.
    “The simple recognition of this as part of Israel, too, was
a decision President Trump made that is historically important
and simply a recognition of reality,” Pompeo said on Thursday.
    The Palestinian leadership cut ties with Trump White House
three years ago, accusing it of pro-Israel bias.
    But many Israelis viewed Trump's election defeat with
dismay, and his close ally Netanyahu waited 10 days after Joe
Biden declared victory to speak with the Democratic candidate
and refer to him as president-elect.
    Pompeo said Washington would also step up action against
pro-Palestinian efforts to isolate Israel economically and
diplomatically.
    "I want you to know that we will immediately take steps to
identify organisations that engage in hateful BDS (Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions) conduct and withdraw U.S. government
support," he said. 
    "We will regard the global anti-Israel BDS campaign as
anti-Semitic," Pompeo said. BDS supporters dispute that, saying
they are against all forms of racism.
    U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said Pompeo had falsely
equated peaceful support for boycotts of Israel with
antisemitism.
    "Instead of combating systemic racism and far-right
extremism in the United States, the Trump administration is
undermining the common fight against the scourge of antisemitism
by equating it with peaceful advocacy of boycotts," said Eric
Goldstein, the group's acting Middle East and North Africa
director.    
    

 (Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Maayan
Lubell, Dan Williams and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; Rami Ayyub
in Bethlehem; Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Editing by Stephen
Farrell, Timothy Heritage and Giles Elgood)
 ((jeffrey.heller@thomsonreuters.com; +97226322202;))