Former Sec. of State Mike Pompeo: “Open the damned strait. Deny Iran access to money. Take out enough Iranian capability …”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Republican lawmakers and former Trump administration officials criticized a memorandum of understanding under negotiation to end the Iran conflict, while Trump allies and administration officials defended the emerging proposal and pushed back against conservative opposition.

Several senior Republicans said any agreement that leaves Iran with regional leverage, access to funds, or nuclear capabilities would be unacceptable.

“I am deeply concerned about what we are hearing about an Iran ‘deal,’ being pushed by some voices in the administration,” Sen. Ted Cruz wrote on X/Twitter.

Cruz praised President Trump’s military action against Iran, calling it “the most consequential decision of his second term,” but warned against concluding the conflict on the reported terms.

“If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime — still run by Islamists who chant ‘death to America’ — now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake,” Cruz added.

Sen. Lindsey Graham also warned against an agreement that would leave Iran in what he described as a strengthened regional position.

“This combination of Iran being perceived as having the ability to terrorize the Strait in perpetuity and the ability [to] inflict massive damage to Gulf oil infrastructure is a major shift of the balance of power in the region and over time will be a nightmare for Israel,” he wrote.

Mike Pompeo, who served as secretary of state during Trump’s first term, criticized the framework reportedly under discussion and called for a tougher approach toward Tehran.

“The deal being floated [is] … Not remotely America First. It’s straightforward: Open the damned strait. Deny Iran access to money. Take out enough Iranian capability so it cannot threaten our allies in the region.”

“Overdue. Let’s go,” he concluded.

Trump administration officials rejected the criticism, and Trump’s close allies, including Communications Director Steven Cheung and outside adviser Alex Bruesewitz, publicly attacked Republican critics of the proposal.

Trump said the Iran deal aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz was “largely” complete.

Conservative media figures and commentators also defended the administration’s position, telling Republicans to “leave the real work to the professionals” and give Trump the “space to find an America First solution.”

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Ambassador Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, both prominent pro-Israel figures in the first Trump administration, will not be returning to the new administration, Trump announces.

By World Israel News Staff

Former President and President-elect Donald Trump has ruled out bringing back two pro-Israel stalwarts from his first administration, the incoming president announced over the weekend.

In a post to the Truth Social platform on Saturday, Trump wrote that Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations during the first two years of his presidency, would not be tapped to serve in any capacity in the new administration.

Haley challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, and initially refused to endorse the former president, before giving his presidential run her backing at the party national convention.

Trump also ruled out bringing Mike Pompeo back into his new administration.

Pompeo, a former congressman representing Kansas’ Fourth Congressional District, served as Director of the CIA under President Trump, before becoming Secretary of State.

Between his two roles as CIA director and Secretary of State, Pompeo served throughout the entire four years of the Trump presidency.

“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Haley responded via X/Twitter to Trump’s post, wishing him “great success” in his new administration.

“I was proud to work with President Trump defending America at the United Nations. I wish him, and all who serve, great success in moving us forward to a stronger, safer America over the next four years.”

On Sunday, Pompeo tweeted that he was “proud to work with” Trump during his first administration.

“As you said, when we were together last week, you and I built the plan that made the world safer & led to no new wars. America firmly rejected the Biden-Harris foreign policy agenda. We have a duty to put America First again.”

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Following Blinken’s comments condemning ‘illegal’ Israeli settlement expansion, Mike Pompeo reaffirmed his pro-Israel stance.

The post WATCH: Mike Pompeo – ‘Judea and Samaria are the homeland of Jews’ appeared first on World Israel News.

Pompeo said Biden’s policy ‘rewards Hamas for its brutal attacks on October 7th and punishes Israel instead.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State during the Trump Administration, lambasted the Biden Administration’s declaration that 3,000 new settlement homes are “inconsistent with international law.”

Mike Pompeo, who was responsible for the “Pompeo Doctrine” in 2019 declaring that settlements in Judea and Samaria don’t violate international law, took to X to voice his disapproval of the reversal of his policy.

He wrote, “Judea and Samaria are rightful parts of the Jewish homeland, and Israelis have a right to live there.”

Pompeo added, “President Biden’s decision to overturn our policy and call Israeli ‘settlements’ illegal will not further the cause of peace.”

“It rewards Hamas for its brutal attacks on October 7th and punishes Israel instead. These Israeli communities are not standing in the way of peace; militant Palestinian terrorism is,” Pompeo concluded.

The current US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said he was “disappointed” over the announcement by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that the Israeli government would approve the building of 3,000 new settlement homes in Judea and Samaria following the deadly terrorist shooting outside Ma’ale Adumim.

Blinken said, “Our administration maintains firm opposition to settlement expansion. And in our judgment, this only weakens — it doesn’t strengthen — Israel’s security.”

When asked about the decision to reverse the Pompeo doctrine and declare settlements inconsistent with international law, White House spokesman John Kirby blamed the administration of Donald Trump for changing the policy on settlements.

“This is a position that has been consistent over a range of Republican and Democratic administrations — if there’s an administration that is being inconsistent, it was the previous one,” he said.

On Friday, Bezalel Smotrich announced the building of new settlements in response to a terrorist shooting on Thursday that left 1 person dead and 11 injured.

“May every terrorist planning to harm us know that lifting a finger against Israeli citizens will be met with a death blow and destruction in addition to the deepening of our eternal grip on the entire Land of Israel,” Smotrich said, calling the decision “an appropriate Zionist response.”

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The former secretary of state toured Hamas massacre sites from October 7 and declared “I stand with Israel.”

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the October 7 massacre and attack sites Tuesday while on a personal visit to show support for Israel and called it his “most heartbreaking” trip to the country.

He and his wife, Susan, were briefed by an IDF officer in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where Hamas terrorists brutally murdered 62 members, 40 of them infants and children, with many of them found beheaded. Nineteen of the kibbutz members were also taken hostage, among the 253 kidnapped and 1,200 people slaughtered overall during the surprise invasion of Israel that day.

They also went to the site of the Nova dance rave, which has become an informal memorial to the dozens kidnapped and 360 revelers who lost their lives over hours of being hunted down by the terrorists, in the largest single massacre during what Israelis call “the Black Sabbath.”

In Ofakim, where Hamas forces murdered 53 townspeople, some of whom had rushed to help their fellow citizens during the attack, Pompeo visited soldiers of the Armored Corps’ 73rd Battalion who are currently stationed in the town.

In a video clip uploaded to Israeli news sites, the Evangelical Christian can be seen smiling broadly as they dance with him in a circle singing a song about having faith in God.

Afterward, however, he said soberly, “I’ve been to Israel on numerous occasions. But this visit has been the most poignant and the most heartbreaking.”

“What happened on October 7th was so shocking and so sadistic that the trauma is felt constantly, everywhere by everyone. And yet, their resilience is truly inspiring,” he continued. “Every Israeli continues to sacrifice and give so much to help their countrymen and defend their nation.”

“The ongoing tragedy of hostages held in Gaza demands our collective efforts to bring them home,” he added, stating firmly, “I stand with Israel. I stand with the Jewish people, and I support the resolute victory of Israel in this war against evil.”

Israel’s former UN ambassador and Likud MK Danny Danon, who accompanied Pompeo, thanked the current distinguished fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute think-tank for his “steadfast support and moral clarity against the evil forces we are facing…. We have no choice but to persevere and fight for victory and the complete eradication of Hamas who is unyielding in its genocidal mission.”

“It is crucial to recognize that Israel cannot emerge victorious with one hand tied behind its back,” he added, in seeming reference to the White House urging Israel to consider a ceasefire and demanding that the IDF not enter Hamas’ last stronghold of Rafah unless it can provide a “credible plan” to get more than a million Gazan civilians out of harm’s way first.

The Pompeos made the tour at the behest of their friend, Israeli businessman, and philanthropist Yossi Sagol, who stressed how important it was for them to have come with him to witness Hamas’ evil.

“I firmly believe that [Pompeo’s] firsthand observations are essential to highlighting the tragic realities faced by Israel’s citizens and will further enhance the opportunities to effectively convey the events of that fateful day,” he said.

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The former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo showed his solidarity with Israel as he toured the massacred kibbutzim and heard testimonies.

The post WATCH: Mike Pompeo’s solemn visit to Israel appeared first on World Israel News.

Mike Pompeo provides insight into America’s response to Iran and UNRWA’s participation in Hamas’s invasion on Oct. 7th.

The post WATCH: Mike Pompeo ‘not surprised’ UNRWA employees took part in October 7th massacre appeared first on World Israel News.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says State Department is influenced by ‘classic appears who don’t understand that Israel is acting in self-defense.’

The post WATCH: Mike Pompeo warns of ‘Rashida Tlaib wing’ of the US State Dept appeared first on World Israel News.

A normalization deal is more likely under a Republican administration, the former U.S. secretary of state said. 

By World Israel News Staff

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who played a key role in brokering the Abraham Accords under the Trump administration, said that a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel would be “impossible” if it hinges on the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“It is impossible to imagine a two-state solution with the current Palestinian leadership who is underwriting terrorism, taking money from Iran, paying citizens to kill Israelis,” Pompeo told The Jerusalem Post.

“It is very difficult to imagine how one would strike a deal with the very leaders that have rejected every reasonable offer with which they have been presented,” he added.

His remarks come a day after Nayef al-Sudairi, Saudi Arabia’s first ambassador to the Palestinian Authority, visited Ramallah. During his visit, al-Sudairi underscored that the establishment of a Palestinian state with eastern Jerusalem as its capital as a foundational element of any forthcoming agreement with Israel. “The Arab Peace Initiative is the central point of any upcoming agreement,” al-Sudairi affirmed.

Saudi Arabia’s Arab Peace Initiative, ratified by the Arab League in 2002, mandates a full Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights and calls for the creation of a Palestinian state with eastern Jerusalem as its capital. It also seeks a “just settlement” for the Palestinian refugee question, which, in most iterations, would spell the end of the Jewish state by demographic means.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discussing potential normalization with Saudi Arabia at the United Nations General Assembly, insisted, “We must not give the Palestinians a veto over new peace treaties with Arab states.” He suggested that while Palestinians could significantly benefit from broader peace, they “should not have a veto over the process.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in a conversation with Fox News, highlighted the importance of resolving the Palestinian issue. He stated, “We got to see where we go. We hope that will reach a place that will ease the life of the Palestinians and get Israel as a player in the Middle East.”

Pompeo remained optimistic about American support for a normalization agreement, regardless of the political affiliation of the U.S. president. He asserted that security relations between the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel align with America’s interests. Nonetheless, Pompeo opined that peace might be “more easily attainable with a Republican president,” citing a shared perception of Iran as the region’s primary threat.

He attributed the progress of the Abraham Accords to the Trump administration’s recognition of Israel as a key democratic ally in the region and Iran as a major sponsor of terrorism. “When we isolate Iran, the region becomes more peaceful and prosperous,” Pompeo concluded.

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Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, known for his pro-Israel views, said he is “convinced” from his reading of the Bible, that Judea and Samaria are the ‘rightful homeland’ of the Jewish people.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Former U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who pushed ardent pro-Israel policies during his time in office under former President Donald Trump, said on Thursday that he believes the territories of Judea and Samaria are the “rightful home” of the Jewish People.

While speaking to the One Decision Podcast, which features former senior diplomats and government officials from around the world, Pompeo added that the Trump administration viewed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as a terrorist.

When Pompeo explained the Trump administration’s decision to end billions of dollars of funding to the PA, he used Abbas’ kunya, Abu Mazen. Abbas is often referred to as Abu Mazen by Israeli officials and the Hebrew language press.

“Our theory of the case was this — what is in America’s best interest? Is it to sit and wait for Abu Mazen, a known terrorist who’s killed lots and lots of people, including Americans, and given those martyrs money, for having done so?” Pompeo said, referencing Abbas’ pay-for-slay policy. Abbas has vowed to never halt the program, which rewards terrorists and their families with monthly cash stipends, despite international pressure.

“We said that’s just not in America’s best interest.”

The podcast hosts asked Pompeo regarding his views on a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which he answered with a

“I’m for an outcome that guarantees Israeli security and makes life better for everyone in the region,” Pomepo said.

He explicitly stated that he rejects the narrative that Israel is an occupying nation.

“This land, as an Evangelical Christian, I am convinced from my reading of the Bible that 3,000 years onto now, in spite of the denial of so many, is the rightful homeland of the Jewish people,” Pompeo said. “We should support Israel in its efforts. They’ll find their own way to an outcome.”

He added that “in the meantime, we should look out for Europe and America and make sure we are helping these nations get toward the right place, and we want good things for everyone, including those folks who live in Judea and Samaria.”

It’s notable that Pompeo used the term Judea and Samaria – a Biblical term which has connotations of Jewish land rights in the territories. Typically, American officials refer to the area as the West Bank.

Pompeo is currently weighing a 2024 presidential run, which would pit him against Trump and Former Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley for the Republican nomination.

In November 2020, Pompeo visited Psagot Winery, making him the highest-ever American diplomat to tour an Israeli settlement while in office.

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Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo details how CIA helped Israeli agents escape operation on foreign soil.

By World Israel News Staff

The Central Intelligence Agency rescued a team of Israeli agents caught in a perilous situation during a mission overseas, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed in his newly published book.

Pompeo, who also served as director of the CIA in the Trump administration before becoming Secretary of State in 2018, wrote in his newly published memoir, Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, that during his tenure at the helm of America’s top foreign intelligence agency, then-Mossad director Yossi Cohen made a personal overture, asking him to intervene on behalf of Mossad agents stuck abroad.

Without disclosing details to identify the operation or the country where it took place, Pompeo called the Mossad operation “one of the most significant clandestine operations ever conducted.”

“The call from Yossi Cohen, the head of the Mossad, arrived shortly after I had stepped off a plane in a European capital. I turned around and went back onboard, where we had communications equipment suitable for a classified conversation with the leader of Israel’s intelligence agency.”

“The voice on the other end was calm but serious: ‘Mike, we just had a team complete a very important mission, and now I’m having a bit of trouble extracting some of them. Can I get your help?'”

Thanks to the CIA’s intervention, the Mossad team was successfully extracted.

“Whenever Yossi called, I took it. He did the same for me,” Pompeo wrote. “I was there to help our friends, no questions asked, no matter the risks.”

“My people swung into action across the world. We connected with his team, and within 24 hours we had guided them to safe houses,” he continued.

“Within the next two days, they were back in their home countries without the world ever knowing that one of the most significant clandestine operations ever conducted was now complete.”

Multiple Israeli intelligence sources told The Jerusalem Post in a report published Tuesday that the operation in question was not the February 2018 Tehran nuclear document seizure, in which Israeli agents obtained some 55,000 documents exposing Iran’s nuclear weapons aspirations.

Mossad agents were nearly captured during the 2018 operation, Hadashot News reported in 2019.

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Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accuses Israeli Prime Minister of lying about possible deal with the US for political gain.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Mike Pompeo’s forthcoming memoir takes a shot at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while containing great praise of Israel’s “real special relationship” with America, The Forward reported Thursday after having obtained an advanced copy of the book.

Called Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, the secretary of state during the Trump administration writes that after a meeting held in Lisbon, Portugal in December 2019, Netanyahu talked of a pledge they had discussed to encourage a formal defense treaty between the United States and Israel.

“It was false,” he notes in the book. “But it was a good story for him” for political reasons.

The meeting, which had been arranged quickly, came during the deadlocked negotiations after the second inconclusive elections in Israel in a year between the anti- and pro-Netanyahu camps, which led to a third election in early 2020.

After Covid-19 hit the country that March, Benny Gantz of Blue and White led his party into a year-long emergency coalition with the Likud to deal with the pandemic in a unity government.

The prime minister told reporters after the consultation that “The meeting with Pompeo was critical for Israeli security. We agreed to promote a defense pact.”

“This is one of our important goals for the coming months and we decided to speed up the work on it,” he added.

Just three months earlier, then-president Donald Trump had publicly expressed support in a tweet for moving forward with discussions on such a defense treaty.

Pompeo also put the Jewish state in a rarified class vis-à-vis the U.S., writing, “America’s real special relationship may be the one we have with Israel” because its survival “matters for the security and prosperity of every American.”

Great Britain is the country usually named as having a “special relationship” with its former colony, due to their shared history, language, culture and values.

Pompeo, an Evangelical Christian and long-time friend of Israel’s, wrote that he had been inspired early on by Israel’s story and “resolved to leave it even stronger than I found it.”

One of his most important statements was one that backed Israel’s historic and legal right to build in Judea and Samaria. In a policy shift for the U.S. government, he declared in November 2019 that Israeli settlements are not “per se, inconsistent with international law.”

Although the idea that all settlements in the disputed region are automatically illegal has been a Palestinian mantra adopted by most of the world, Article 80 of the UN Charter itself guaranteed that Jews had the unalterable right to live anywhere in what had been British-Mandate Palestine in the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Pompeo became the first sitting secretary of state to visit Judea and Samaria when he paid a call that month on the Psagot winery, which had named a line of wines after him.

The memoir is set to hit the bookshelves on Tuesday, as Pompeo is rumored to be mulling a run for the Republican nomination for president.

Other prominent friends of Israel are also in the midst of deciding whether to challenge former president Donald Trump, who is the only one who has already declared that he will try for the 2024 nomination. These include Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, and his ambassador to the UN for two years, Nikki Haley.

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After Donald Trump comes under fire for meeting with Nick Fuentes and Kanye West, former Secretary of State condemns antisemitism.

By World Israel News Staff

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned antisemitism, calling it a “cancer,” days after former President Donald Trump met with two prominent figures widely accused of antisemitism.

In a tweet late Saturday night, Pompeo condemned antisemitism, calling it the “world’s oldest bigotry,” and touted his record in favor of legislation against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

“Anti-Semitism is a cancer. As Secretary, I fought to ban funding for anti-Semitic groups that pushed BDS. We stand with the Jewish people in the fight against the world’s oldest bigotry.”

Pompeo did not directly reference his former boss or his recent meeting with rapper-turned-designer Kanye West and far-right Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.

Last week’s meeting, which West referenced in a tweet last Wednesday, drew criticism even from some Trump stalwarts, including his administration’s Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.

“To my friend Donald Trump, you are better than this. Even a social visit from an antisemite like Kanye West and human scum like Nick Fuentes is unacceptable. I urge you to throw those bums out, disavow them and relegate them to the dustbin of history where they belong,” Friedman tweeted on Friday.

“I condemned Barak Obama associating with Louis Farrakhan and Jeremiah Wright. This is no different. Antisemites deserve no quarter among American leaders, right or left,” Friedman added.

The White House issued a statement on Saturday condemning the meeting.

“Bigotry, hate, and antisemitism have absolutely no place in America — including at Mar-a-Lago,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates stated.

“Holocaust denial is repugnant and dangerous, and it must be forcefully condemned,” he said.

“This is just awful, unacceptable conduct from anyone, but most particularly from a former President and current candidate,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tweeted.

Trump claimed on Truth Social, the social media platform he created, that he was unaware Fuentes would be attending the dinner meeting reportedly arranged by West and that he “knew nothing about” the Holocaust-denying White Supremacist. In fact, Fuentes has been one of Trump’s staunch supporters.

“This past week, Kanye West called me to have dinner at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump said. “Shortly thereafter, he unexpectedly showed up with three of his friends, whom I knew nothing about. We had dinner on Tuesday evening with many members present on the back patio. The dinner was quick and uneventful. They then left for the airport.”

West sparked outrage last month with a now-deleted tweet saying that he was going to go “death con 3” on Jewish people. Rather than apologizing, he doubled down on his antisemitic statements.

Fuentes, who was labeled a white supremacist by the U.S. Justice Department, has questioned the Holocaust on several occasions and mocked it as well, once comparing the slaughter of Jews in gas chambers to “cookies baking in an oven.”

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The former secretary of state chides Biden for policies on Israel, calls the FBI probe of Shireen Abu Akleh’s death “political” and says Netanyahu has the right to choose his cabinet ministers “full stop.”

By Alex Traiman, JNS

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo oversaw the foreign policy of the most pro-Israel administration in American history. His policy, which came to be known as the Pompeo Doctrine, reversed long-standing American wisdom that Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria were illegal.

Pompeo, an Iran hawk, was also a champion of President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure campaign” of sanctions on Tehran.

This weekend, Pompeo took to the stage of the Republican Jewish Coalition Leadership Meetings in Las Vegas, among a number of high-profile Republicans thought to be potential challengers to Trump in 2024. Before addressing the crowd on Saturday evening, he sat down with JNS CEO and Jerusalem Bureau Chief Alex Traiman for an extended conversation.

JNS: Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for being with us. Obviously, here in America, a lot of Republicans were hoping that there would be a red wave or a red tsunami. We didn’t get one in the United States. But in Israel, we did get a red tsunami and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is returning to power, and it looks like he’s going to form a stable, right-wing coalition. Tell me what that means, not just for Israel, but also for the United States and the entire world.

A: Well, the Israeli people made this choice. And I think it will be great for them. To your point, we worked closely with Prime Minister Netanyahu during the Trump administration’s time. Israel was an amazing partner and friend to the United States. I think we were great partners and friends to Israel as well. But you’re right, it was unstable. We had multiple elections [in Israel] during those years. And now, he has a coalition that is stable and conservative, and I think that will be great for the people of Israel.

It’s also good for Arab nations and good for America. This will present a pillar inside of Israel that can push back against the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism in Iran. And that’s good for all of us, not just the people of Israel. And I always think, too, about the next generation of Iranians who want to live outside of being under the jack thug boot of the ayatollah [Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei] and [Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi], and having Prime Minister Netanyahu clearly articulating his vision for the nation of Israel and for peace and stability in the Middle East is a good thing for those people in Tehran as well.

Q: Well, speaking about Iran, obviously, the foreign policy priority of the Biden administration has been to reenter into the Iran nuclear deal. Looking at the protests that are taking place now inside Iran, what do you think the U.S. policy should be? Should it be to take out the regime in Iran?

A: It’s been crazy to watch as the Biden administration tried to give the Iranians the money to continue their terror regime, to build out their missile systems—not just the nuclear program, not just enrichment, but their missile systems, their delivery capabilities, everything that goes around having a full-on weapons program, the Biden ministration has tried to give them a pathway to. That’s not good for the Iranian people. It is terrible for the nation of Israel. I’m glad to see that it hasn’t happened. But not because of the administration. But because the ayatollah has chosen not to reenter what would be a fantastic deal for them.

But sadly, we’ve already begun to ease the enforcement of sanctions. You can either lift the sanctions or not enforce them—it has the same effect. The regime and its economy will grow at 6-8% this year, and that’s devastatingly dangerous. The Biden administration’s policy of trying to counterbalance the Sunni Arabs is a mistake. What the United States should be focused on is creating friendships between the Arab states and Israel, much like we did with the Abraham Accords, isolating the Iranian regime. They’re the bad actors there. They foster instability in the region. And I pray that those protests inside of Iran today are sufficiently deep, sufficiently diversified—regionally, ethnically, socioeconomically. And I hope that the Biden administration will encourage them so they can have the leadership that they want.

Q: You mentioned the Abraham Accords. And they were probably one of the crowning achievements of the previous administration, in terms of forging normalization agreements with four Muslim-majority nations [with Israel]. We’ve seen the momentum slow on the Abraham Accords and members of the previous administration and also the Netanyahu administration say that had the two been in office, potentially five or more additional countries could have joined into such normalization agreements. Why do you think the momentum has slowed? And what would it take to get it back on track?

A: I am praying that the momentum continues and that the nations that have signed normalization agreements will continue to increase their diplomatic ties, their economic ties, their military and intelligence relationships as well. I hope those will continue to strengthen. It takes great leaders to get a Muslim-majority nation to recognize Israel’s right to exist. It takes a great leader in the country that makes the agreement. It takes a great leader in Israel. And it takes an America that is prepared to back and support that and be functionally part of helping them get to the right place. And we didn’t have that in Israel. And we don’t have that in the United States today. And so I think that’s why we’ve not seen more countries join. The model that we had was the right one.

We want a better life for people everywhere, including those living in the West Bank. But we’re not prepared to have one conversation with a Palestinian leader who continues to kill people in Israel and pay the [families] of those who die killing them. We’re not going to work with terrorists. We’re not going to underwrite UNRWA and allow that money to go to Hamas and to Hezbollah. When you fuel those things, you deny Muslim-majority nations the opportunity to do the right thing and recognize Israel’s right to exist. And so it’s pretty straightforward how to get it back. I don’t do timing, so I don’t know when that day will come. But I am confident that an increasing number of nations will recognize Israel’s right to exist. And the connectivity between those countries and Israel will grow as well.

Q: You mentioned the West Bank. In Israel, we know it as Judea and Samaria, the biblical provinces. One of the strongest policy decisions that you made as secretary of state is actually now named after you, called the Pompeo Doctrine. It was to reverse the controversial Hansell Memo [a 1978 memo by State Department legal adviser Herbert Hansell], which called Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria a flagrant violation of international law. Current U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides just actually broke a boycott that he had installed against visiting Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. He went to go visit a shiva—a mourning home of someone who was just murdered in a terror attack.

Do you think that that policy of trying to avoid Jewish settlements is productive? Why did you reverse the Hansell Memo? And what do you think that reversing that memo can do for the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

A: I spent a lot of time in Judea and Samaria, not only when I was the secretary of state—I was the first secretary of state to actually visit there. I’ve been there on multiple occasions since. I had a chance to actually get to Hebron the other day. I had never been there before and got to stand between the tombs of Abraham and Sarah. There’s nothing more emotional and nothing more historical, both at the same time, right? You stand there and you cannot possibly deny that this has been the Jewish homeland for 3,000 years. I say that because I think that answers the question. I think that gets to what the right policy is.

The reason I undid what Hansell had done was because it is the case that Israel is not an occupying nation. It is not apartheid that is taking place there. Not every Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is unlawful. That was essentially the statement that we made. These are basic truths. And so one of the hallmarks of my time as secretary of state was to try and recognize reality. And that truth was important. I had to fight the State Department legal team for an awfully long time. But we ultimately got to the right place. And [former U.S.] Ambassador [to Israel David] Friedman and I both deeply believed that this was the right policy for the United States of America. And to watch the Biden administration undo it, talking about potentially reestablishing a consulate in Jerusalem [for the Palestinians], it’s heartbreaking, because it fails to recognize the reality that is so important.

Q: The FBI recently announced that it was going to open an investigation into the killing of the journalist Shireen Abu Abu Akleh, who was killed during a firefight between the Israel Defense Forces and terrorists in Jenin. Tell me, why do you think the FBI would want such an investigation? Do you think that’s productive?

A: It seems political to me. I don’t know what the decision-making process was. But it’s not like the American government hasn’t already been engaged in evaluating this and the Israelis haven’t been transparent with respect to it. As best I can tell, they have. The departments of Defense and State both have issued reports or statements saying, this is essentially what happened, that we know those answers. I can’t account for it. They’ve done some of the same kinds of things, undoing the policy we had with respect to the ICC [International Criminal Court].

There is a there is an anti-Zionist bias that is very deep inside of the administration, in a way that is unproductive not only for Israel but very unproductive for the United States of America. And in the end, we always put America first, right? We thought about how to deliver good outcomes for the American people, and recognizing Israel and its partnership with the United States was incredibly important to the people of our country.

And to watch the Biden administration now say we’re going to have the Department of Justice investigate someone who was trying to protect the Jewish homeland reeks of a political prosecution. And I hope that if the investigation has begun, they will end it quickly or they will make a different decision.

Political pressure on Netanyahu

Q: It seems like there’s also a lot of political pressure on incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be careful about whom he selects as ministers in his government, particularly for the public security ministry, which may go to firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir, as well as the defense ministry. Should the United States be playing a role in trying to determine whom Israel selects as ministers in the cabinet?

A: The people of Israel elected the prime minister, and it is a prime minister’s decision whom he selects for his cabinet. Full stop. I’m not sure what else to say. And it makes no sense to me that we try to pressure them on cabinet selections. It doesn’t surprise me that he’s feeling some pressure. But it seems inconsistent with our idea that he’s the prime minister. He’s the leader of the nation, along with the president, who’s the head of state. Those are the people that are responsible for making decisions inside of the country.

Q: One of the underlying storylines of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has been what will Israel’s position be vis-à-vis Ukraine. Will Israel send weapons to Ukraine? Why do you think that the media and the international community are so concerned about what position Israel takes, and what position do you think Israel should take?

A: No one should take a position that supports what Vladimir Putin has done. No country should. And Israel has not done that. Every nation should support the right of the Ukrainian people to defend their own sovereignty. I’m glad that the United States is doing an awful lot to support that. I support what the Biden administration has done. I frankly wish they had done it better and delivered it more effectively. I don’t know why the media picks it up. I don’t know why the United Nations behaves so badly with respect to Israel.

I think there is at the United Nations a deep antisemitic bias. I don’t know if that’s true of the media in the same way. But it seems like more of a story than it is in reality. I think the Israelis have made pretty clear they understand human dignity, they understand minority rights. There’s no other nation inside of the Middle East where people of every faith can practice their own religion. I think Israelis look at Ukraine and see a nation that is much like that, fighting for the freedom and sovereignty of the country. And I’m confident that the Israelis support the Ukrainians’ effort to defend themselves.

Q: You mentioned the United Nations. There’s recently been a permanent Commission of Inquiry opened, led by Navi Pillay, into potential Israeli war crimes or human rights violations against Palestinians. As secretary of state, what kind of leverage would the United States have in order to counteract such an open-ended commission?

A: Not infinite, but a lot. They can actually have a real impact? I doubt the Biden administration will do that. We’ve watched both at the U.N. Human Rights Council, in the special rapporteur’s office, and in the U.N. more broadly, more resolutions condemning Israel than the rest of the world combined. That is anti-factual. That’s not based on reality. The United States ought to do its part to make sure that the United Nations doesn’t continue to head down that path. Among the reasons we ultimately left the Human Rights Council is it became hopelessly inconsistent with actual honest-to-G-d human rights.

Q: We’re here at the Republican Jewish Coalition. And there’s a number of high-ranking individuals here that may put their hats into the ring to run for the presidency in 2024—many of them worked together previously as teammates in the previous administration. Are you thinking about running for the presidency in 2024? And would you consider another role in a future administration, including potentially secretary of state?

A: It’s encouraging. We’ve got lots of good conservative talent, lots of conservatives who believe deeply in the Zionist project and in the fair policies that the Trump administration put in place. So that’s encouraging, and it’s great to be here at RJC to be part of that. The Pompeos are trying to figure their way through, to figure out if we’re going to actually go into the political campaign. We’ll make the decision sometime in the spring of next year. But you can be sure that the issues that I’ve worked on for 30 years now, and the issues that I worked on building the relationship with the United States and Israel, I’ll never walk away from. I don’t know if it’ll be in elected office. I don’t know if I’ll put myself forward in that role yet. Only G-d knows.

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Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shares his views on the U.S.-Israel relationship with Israel National News at Israel Heritage Foundation event in New York City.

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Former State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus reacts to reports of bounties by the Iranian regime to assassinate former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, among other Americans.

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