“There remains work yet to do, and we need to make progress on that. I am looking forward to it,” he said, ahead of their meeting. The US administration has said it would recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire Jordan Valley and all Israeli settlements across the West Bank in exchange for assurances that Jerusalem would be ready to negotiate a peace deal with the Palestinians based on President Donald Trump’s plan. Various reports suggested that the administration may want to ask the Israeli government not to rush into applying sovereignty, but Pompeo has repeatedly said that annexation is an Israeli decision.
Netanyahu, in his remarks, briefly referred to the peace plan. “Now we’re about to form a national unity government,” he said, referring to the coalition government between his Likud party and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White that will be sworn in Thursday. “This is an opportunity to promote peace and security based on the understanding that I reached with President Trump in my last visit to Washington in January,” he said. “These are all tremendous challenges and opportunities, we can do them because we have such a powerful bond that makes the alliance between Israel and US stand out, certainly for us, but for many other countries looking around,” he added, without elaborating. -Full Report
Pompeo visits Israel on eve of new govt amid West Bank violence
