There are still diplomats who travel. Wearing a mask in the colors of the American flag, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed at Tel Aviv airport on Wednesday May 13 for a short nine-hour visit to Israel – the first by a foreign official in the countries since the start of the coronavirus epidemic.
With an exception to the ban on all non-resident foreigners from traveling to Israel, Mr. Pompeo moved in a strict sanitary "bubble". He met in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as with his future government partner, General Benny Gantz. The milestone is symbolic, as the two men plan to form their government as early as Thursday, May 14, after three parliamentary elections and more than 500 days of political deadlock. However, the urgency that required such face-to-face meetings, rather than conversations over a secure telephone line, remains poorly explained.
With Mr. Netanyahu, the Secretary of State discussed the US "maximum pressure" policy against Iran. Pompeo is campaigning for a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would extend an embargo on sales of conventional weapons to Iran expiring in October, under the terms of the 2015 agreement on Iranian nuclear. While China and Russia are likely to oppose it, Israel could possibly help to change the position of Moscow, with which the Hebrew State maintains a constant dialogue, aiming to limit Iran's military capabilities in Neighboring Syria.
"There is still work to be done"
Pompeo also spoke in Jerusalem of the prospect of annexation of Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank. President Donald Trump’s "Middle East Peace Plan", revealed in January, theoretically authorizes it. But the messages sent in recent weeks by the US administration are distant and contradictory. It seems entirely occupied by the epidemic, and by the economic crisis which threatens the re-election of Mr. Trump to the presidential election in November. "There is still work to be done and we must progress on this", recognized Mr. Pompeo on Wednesday.
At the same time, the Israeli channel 13, quoting an anonymous top American official, said that the date of 1er July, to which the government agreement concluded by MM. Netanyahu and Gantz makes annexation possible, was not "Sacred" for Washington: "The Israeli road map is not firm from our point of view, and it is not a matter of life and death for us. "
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