Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blasted the Palestinians today for their refusal to negotiate over a looming Israeli annexation of the West Bank — one day after Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz made similar comments, seemingly bringing him closer to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s position. Pompeo touted President Donald Trump’s peace plan, which greenlights the annexation of Israeli settlements in the West Bank as well as the entire Jordan Valley.
“Decisions about Israel and extending sovereignty to other places are decisions for the Israelis to make,” Pompeo told reporters at a press conference today. “I regret only that the Palestinian Authority has refused to participate in that. They have simply rejected this out of hand. We simply ask that they come to the negotiating table based on what’s outlined in the vision for peace, and they have chosen not to. They have chosen to threaten, to bluster, to assert that they’re going to deny the ability to do security cooperation.”
