Whatever happens in December and January, the Trump administration is now on a mission to rack up as many wins as possible, confirming judges, and changing foreign policy.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been working to cement the administration’s foreign policy wins in the Middle East, meeting with members of the anti-Iran coalition and developing its peace agreements further.
Then he stopped by Israel, visited the Psagot winery, and noted that products made there and elsewhere would be labeled as being made in Israel.
(Full disclosure, Psagot wines are quite good.)
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed the criticism leveled at him on the left following his visit to Psagot Winery and his statement that products from Judea and Samaria would be marked “Made in Israel.”
“Unfortunately, Psagot Winery and other businesses have been harmed as a result of EU funding efforts that form the basis of the boycott of Israeli companies. The United States stands by Israel and will not tolerate any form of delegitimization,” Pompeo said.
In an official statement issued earlier, he wrote that “the State Department has created new guidelines to ensure that the country of origin of goods in the Israeli-Palestinian context is in line with US foreign policy. Therefore, all manufacturers exporting goods to us from Judea and Samaria “.
A little context.
Israel was invaded by a number of Islamic countries when it declared independence. It was able to survive, but lost territory that it actually had settled or had claim to in that conflict. That’s not surprising since it was up against tanks and armored vehicles, superior firepower and numbers, and it only had militia at its disposal.
In the Six Day War, Israel was able to reclaim territories in Judea and Samaria. That was back in 1967. Even though those territories have long since been resettled and have extensive cities and infrastructure, leftist governments insist on following the UN’s approach in falsely describing them as “settlements” and “occupied territory”.
This means that products from those areas will be finally labeled as being Made in Israel. It also means that Americans who were born in Jerusalem, will finally have the proper country of birth on their documents.
Secretary of State Pompeo also visited the Golan Heights and firmly came out against BDS.
Pompeo later flew to the Golan Heights, a mountainous and strategic plateau that overlooks Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
“I very much wanted to come here on this trip to tell the world that we have it right. That we, the United States has it right. That Israel has it right,” Pompeo declared.
“Each nation has the right to defend itself in its own sovereignty,” he said.
Earlier, in Jerusalem, Pompeo announced that Washington would step up action against efforts to isolate Israel economically and diplomatically.
“I want you to know that we will immediately take steps to identify organizations that engage in hateful BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) conduct and withdraw US government support,” he said.
“We will regard the global anti-Israel BDS campaign as antisemitic,” Pompeo stated.
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