Pompeo to discuss annexation, Iran, China with Israel’s new government

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Israel May 13, the day the country's two-headed unity government scheduled to be sworn in. The formation of Israel’s 35th government is supposed to end the political crisis that has plagued Israeli politics for the past year and a half. Pompeo’s visit comes about 500 days after the demise of Israel’s last elected government and on the cusp of a newly elected one.

Three rounds of inconclusive elections over the past year failed to break the political deadlock. The last-minute agreement on a unity government comprising the Likud Party and its election challenger, the Blue and White Party staved off deterioration into a fourth round of elections that could have also exacerbated the pandemic-induced economic downturn and further fueled the battle between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s legal and law enforcement authorities.

Pompeo will obviously be spared the 14-day quarantine the Health Ministry requires of all those arriving in Israel. Instead, he will meet with Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, the putative co-prime ministers set to be sworn in under the deal they forged that changes Israel’s system of government. Pompeo is also likely to meet an old friend from his days as CIA director, Mossad chief Yossi Cohen.

According to diplomatic sources, Pompeo's quick visit has several agenda items. They include coordinating positions ahead of Israel’s expected unilateral annexation of West Bank settlements allowed by President Donald Trump’s peace plan, allaying Israeli concerns over a possible easing of US sanctions on Iran, exchanging information regarding Israel’s campaign against Iran’s presence in Syria and probably expressing US displeasure over massive Chinese investments in Israel. The US concern over China’s involvement in Israel has to do with the planned construction of the Middle East’s largest desalination plant on Israel’s Mediterranean coast by a major Chinese group that won the bid for the project. The Americans are continuing to warn Israel about the growing Chinese involvement in major infrastructure projects and senior Israeli officials say the issue is overshadowing the flourishing US-Israel ties, especially against the backdrop of increased US-China tensions over the novel coronavirus crisis.