U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan are seen past American and Israeli flags as they step off a plane at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv
Credit: Reuters
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, is expected to pay an unprecedented visit to an Israeli settlement in the West Bank on Thursday, as the Trump administration imposes further sanctions on Iran and faces criticism over the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
As the top US diplomat continues a farewell tour of the Middle East, he is said to be planning a trip to Psagot winery, which is based near the Palestinian city of Ramallah.
The visit, which has been widely reported by Israeli media but has not yet been confirmed by Israel or Washington, would mark the first time that a US secretary of state has ventured into an Israeli settlement on an official tour.
The settlements are regarded by many countries as illegal under international law, including Britain, though Mr Pompeo has won immense popularity among settler communities and the Israeli right for disputing this claim.
Winemakers at Psagot, which produces some 600,000 bottles per year, recently named a red wine after Mr Pompeo as thanks for his declaration last year that Washington did not believe the settlements were illegal.
It came as Tobias Ellwood, the chairman of Parliament’s defence committee, branded President Donald Trump "deeply irresponsible" for reportedly planning to bomb Iranian nuclear targets while withdrawing troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr Ellwood also warned that Mr Trump’s actions would "reduce Nato’s security profile, diminishing its effectiveness and placing pressure on allies to fill the vacuum or pull out themselves”.
And in the United States, a string of Republican senators, members of Mr Trump’s own party, have voiced criticism about the new troop withdrawal, warning it could destabilise the region.
Gil Haskel, left, chief of protocol for the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, greets Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as he arrives at Ben Gurion Airport
Credit: AFP
Ben Sasse, a Republican senator for Nebraska, said: "Headlines about ‘bringing the boys home’ sound good, but that’s not what’s happening. I fear this weak retreat is not grounded in reality and will make the world a more dangerous place.”
Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator for South Carolina who is one of Mr Trump’s most prominent allies on Capitol Hill, also offered a less than glowing public comment.
Mr Graham tweeted that he supported US troops returning home “one day” but added: “A counter-terrorism force in Afghanistan is an insurance policy against another 9/11.”
Mr Trump has long advocated wrapping up what he has dubbed “endless wars” in the Middle East, tapping into public unease about US involvement in the conflicts almost two decades after the terrorist attacks on September 11 2001.
On Wednesday, Mr Pompeo arrived in Israel for a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and shortly after announced a fresh round of sanctions on Iran.
"Sanctions are part of the pressures creating a new Middle East, bringing together countries that suffer the consequences of Iran’s violence and seek a region more peaceful and stable than before," he said in a statement.
At a press conference, Mr Netanyahu thanked Mr Pompeo for his “unwavering friendship” and said Israel’s recent peace deals with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates would not have been possible without the Trump administration.
Also at the meeting was Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Bahrain’s foreign minister, who said the peace accords would “set down a marker for the future of the Middle East.”
Palestinian leaders have strongly condemned those agreements and have also been deeply concerned by reports that Mr Pompeo will visit the Psagot winery on Thursday.
Palestinians gather to protest against the visitation plan of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who came to Israel as part of official contacts, to a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank
Credit: Anadolu Agency
Mohammed Shtayyeh, the Palestinian prime minister, said Mr Pompeo "is going to visit the Jewish settlement simply because he is visiting a winery that has produced a bottle of wine named after him".
"If international relations are designed on a bottle of wine, it’s to hell with international relations,” he added.
On Wednesday, Palestinians gathered for a protest against Mr Pompeo in Al-Bireh, a community next to Psagot, where they threw stones at Israeli soldiers guarding the settlement’s entrance.
Mr Pompeo, according to Israeli media reports, will also visit the Golan Heights region, which this week saw increased tensions with pro-Iran forces in neighbouring Syria.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced on Wednesday that they had struck several Syrian regime and Iranian targets near Damascus overnight in retaliation for an attempted bomb attack at the border.
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