Skip to main content

Pompeo in Jerusalem, bearing gifts for Netanyahu

With Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the scheduled meeting in Washington with President Donald Trump, it seems the administration is doing all it can to support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the elections.
RTS2E6AV.jpg
Read in 

“The last time someone named Pompeo visited Jerusalem, it didn’t end well,” joked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on March 21. Netanyahu was, of course, referring to the Roman military leader Pompey the Great, who conquered the Holy Land some 2,000 years ago and with whom Pompeo shares a name. Netanyahu made this remark during a visit by the two men to Jerusalem’s Western Wall. Unlike the Roman general whose name he shares, Pompeo had only good news for Netanyahu. It was the kind of news that the prime minister desperately needs just two weeks before the upcoming election.

H.S., a senior figure on Likud’s strategic team, told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Netanyahu has one answer in response to all the [police] suspicions leveled against him and to new information about the profits he allegedly earned from his steel company stocks, which rose because of the sale of German submarines to Israel. The answer can be found in the diplomatic arena. According to this claim, apart from former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni — who recently resigned from politics — Netanyahu is the only person to have experience in this particular arena. His rivals, Blue and White seniors Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, are trailing far behind him, with no real experience in foreign affairs or geopolitics.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.