Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Pompeo to visit Israel ahead of April 9 elections

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a discussion with students in Iowa that he planned to travel to Lebanon, Israel and Kuwait.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Tel Aviv, April 2018. Photo by Haim Zach/GPO.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Tel Aviv, April 2018. Photo by Haim Zach/GPO.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Israel ahead of the country’s election on April 9, announced the U.S. State Department on Tuesday.

Pompeo said on Monday during a discussion with students in Iowa that he planned to travel to Lebanon, Israel and Kuwait “next week.”

When asked during Tuesday’s press briefing at the State Department about the upcoming trip, deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino said, “I don’t have the details today to announce,” but mentioned that details would be released soon.

The visit would come amid the U.S. planning to withdraw most American troops from Syria in April,Isr as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing a tough re-election battle due to the Israeli attorney general’s announcement last week that the prime minister will face criminal charges in all three ongoing corruption cases against him.

“We will not allow hatred to dictate whether we remain in New York,” Rivkie Feiner, a board member of the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County, told JNS. “Our history is defined by resilience, not surrender, and that will not change now.”
“We’re a tiny percentage of the population, yet we’re over 50% of the attacks, and the mayor’s diatribes don’t help,” Rabbi Allen Schwartz of Ohab Zedek, a synagogue the victim attends, told JNS on the fast of Tisha B’Av.
“You know that’s the other Jewish guy named Josh, right?” the New Jersey congressman wrote, after Rep. Summer Lee appeared to confuse him with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“Whether operating under the guise of charities, businesses or underground financial networks, those who enable Hamas will be exposed, sanctioned and held accountable,” the U.S. treasury secretary stated.
The United Nations agency “teaches Palestinian children to hate Jews, essentially functioning as a child soldier factory,” stated Rep. Chris Smith, who introduced the legislation.
“This reward offer is part of a broader effort to solicit information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms” of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the State Department said.