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Friday, November 29, 2019

11/29 Links Pt1: Melanie Phillips: As the west goes terribly wrong, Arabs inch in the right direction; French Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Muslim Man Who Killed Sarah Halimi; London Bridge Terror Attack

From Ian:
Melanie Phillips: As the west goes terribly wrong, Arabs inch in the right direction
As the west goes in one direction, so the Arab world is now going in the other.

While British and western “progressive” circles descend ever deeper into the sewers of antisemitism and its contemporary mutation, the campaign to exterminate the State of Israel, the Arab world is beginning to renounce its own desire to wipe Israel off the map.

Prominent figures from 15 Arab countries met in London last week to reject the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement — whose aim is to destroy Israel — and encourage the establishment of relations with Israel instead.

The Clarion Project reports that participants were drawn from Morocco, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and the Gulf states and included journalists, artists, politicians, diplomats, Quranic scholars, women and young people. The meeting was publicised only after its participants returned to their native countries. The New York Times was allowed to post a live stream of the meeting (held in Arabic) after the event.

“The Times reported that the group in London agreed that ‘BDS] has only helped [Israel] while damaging Arab nations that have long shunned the Jewish state. Demonizing Israel has cost Arab nations billions in trade.’ Mustafa el-Dessouki, an Egyptian who is the managing editor of the prominent news magazine Majalla (which is funded by Saudi Arabia), was one of the main organizers of the meeting.

“In recent travels around the Middle East, Dessouki said met many Arabs with similar views to his, including citizens of Lebanon. This was in spite of the fact that the Arab news media and entertainment industry have long been ‘programming people toward this hostility’ against Israel and Jews, he said, while politicians were ‘intimidating and scaring people into manifesting it.’”

Caroline Glick: The split screen
In normal times, a full screen of anti-regime protests in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon would be followed by full screens of security cabinet meetings. We would see Facebook and Telegram videos of Netanyahu speaking in Farsi directly to the Iranian people and expressing solidarity with their aspirations for freedom. In response to requests by Iranian opposition forces, the government would restore Farsi-language Voice of Israel radio broadcasts, directly into Iran.

In a full-screen reality, we would have seen a more serious response to the statements that US Central Command leader General Kenneth McKenzie made to The New York Times last Saturday. In remarks to the paper, the US commander responsible for the Middle East said that the possibility Iran will attack the Gulf states and Israel has risen.

In the event, the Israeli response was limited to a statement Sunday by Netanyahu. On a tour of the Golan Heights with IDF commanders Sunday morning, Netanyahu said that Israel is fully committed to preventing Iran from attacking it.

In normal times, a statement like McKenzie’s would have been followed by a sudden trip to Washington by Israel’s defense minister to visit with his counterpart at the Pentagon.

Our times are not normal times. We are relegated to living in a split-screen reality because our government is incapable of carrying out any real action. Its paralysis is not the result of its status as an interim government. Israel has been living under an interim government for some time now. And its members, including the prime minister, have shown no aversion to doing their job responsibly.

The reason our government is incapable of fulfilling its duty, particularly on issues of strategic importance, is because Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit has decided that almost all government activities require his prior approval.
French Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Muslim Man Who Killed Sarah Halimi in 2017
A French prosecutor has dropped charges against the killer of Jewish kindergarten teacher Sarah Halimi after experts ruled he had suffered a massive psychotic episode by smoking cannabis.

Ms Halimi, who was Orthodox, was killed after Kobili Traoré broke into her council flat in eastern Paris on April 4 2017.

Witnesses said the 65-year-old was beaten and called a “demon” by her attacker, who recited Koranic verses as he threw her off her balcony.

In an appeals court hearing on Wednesday Traoré admitted killing Ms Halimi, saying he was not aware of his actions on the night of the murder and did not recognise when he broke in.

“I felt persecuted. When I saw the Torah and a chandelier in her home I felt oppressed. I saw her face transforming,” he said.

But in a rare turn of events, French prosecutors were divided on how to proceed.

Local prosecutors in Paris initially argued that Kobili Traoré should be put on trial for his actions. But they were opposed by the more senior procureur général, which argued Traoré should be hospitalised.
French Jews Are Fleeing Their Country
France is home to Europe’s largest Jewish population, the third largest in the world after Israel and the United States. Yet this historic community—dating back to the Roman conquest of Jerusalem and expulsion of the Jewish population 2,000 years ago—is in the midst of an existential crisis.

France's interior minister has warned that anti-Jewish sentiment is "spreading like poison." President Emmanuel Macron declared that anti-Semitism was at its highest levels since World War II. Amidst a string of attacks, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe admitted that anti-Semitism is “deeply rooted in French society.”

Eighty-nine percent of Jewish students in France report experiencing anti-Semitic abuse, according to a poll published in March. In 2017, Jews were the target of nearly 40 percent of the violent incidents classified as racially or religiously motivated, despite making up less than 1 percent of the French population. In 2018, anti-Semitic acts rose by nearly 75 percent.

The current wave of immigration began in earnest after the 2012 Toulouse massacre, in which a French-born Islamic extremist opened fire at a Jewish day school, killing a young rabbi who was shielding his three- and six-year-old sons, then shooting to death both boys and an 8-year-old girl. Three years later, a gunman pledging allegiance to ISIS killed four customers at a kosher supermarket in Paris. “In the days after that, we received thousands of calls from people saying they wanted to leave,” says Ouriel Gottlieb, the Jewish Agency’s director in Paris. “Of the four people murdered at Hyper Casher, three of the families moved to Israel.”

Nearly every year since has seen another deadly anti-Semitic attack, from the beating and defenestration of 65-year-old Sarah Halimi in 2017 to the gruesome killing of Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll in 2018. Less frightening, but just as damaging to this fragile community, are the constant smaller-scale incidents, such as the desecration of Jewish cemeteries and memorials, or attacks on boys wearing yarmulkes. Such attacks have led many here to hide outward appearances of their faith. Others choose to leave.



Several injured in stabbing incident at London Bridge, suspect said killed
Several people were injured in a stabbing incident at London Bridge Friday, British police said. British police cleared the area around London Bridge in the center of the British capital following the attack.

The Guardian reported that the suspected attacked had died after being shot by officers.

London police said the circumstances were “unclear” but “as a precaution we are currently responding… as though it is terror-related.” The Guardian reported that counter-terrorism forces were involved in the investigation.

Unconfirmed reports put the number of injured at five, and said some were in serious condition.

The Metropolitan Police force said officers were called just before 2 p.m. Friday (1400 GMT) “to a stabbing at premises near to London Bridge.” London Ambulance Service said it had crews on the scene.

BBC reporter John McManus was in the area and said he saw figures grappling on the bridge. He said: “I thought it was initially a fight,” but then shots rang out.

One video appeared to show civilians tackling a man to the ground on the bridge before police arrive and shoot him (Warning: graphic images). NSFW

Alleged Terrorist Wrestled and Shot on London Bridge
Here is the footage circulating about the London Bridge incident.


The Metropolitan Police have released this statement:
“Police were called at 1:58pm to a stabbing at premises near to London Bridge. Emergency services attended, including officers from the Met and @colp A man has been detained by police. We believe a number of people have been injured. Further info to follow.”

UPDATE: New footage has emerged showing what appears to be members of the public wrestling a knife off a bearded man before he is shot by police.

UPDATE II: Met Police are treating the incident as terror-related.

At this stage, the circumstances relating to the incident at #LondonBridge remain unclear. However, as a precaution, we are currently responding to this incident as though it is terror-related. One man has been shot by police. We will provide further information when possible.
Honest Reporting: Palestinian Terror Payments: Pay For Slay
What would you call an organization that pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to reward a teenager who takes a knife from his family’s kitchen and stabs a fellow teenager riding a bike along the street?

A monster? The devil?

For many Israelis, the answer that comes to mind is the Palestinian Authority.

Because that is exactly what the governing body of the Palestinian people does.

The terror payments come from the Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund. They pay monthly stipends to the families of terrorists killed, hurt, or imprisoned for attacking Israelis. This includes those who participate in riots, rock throwing, or even just assisting or planning attacks against Israelis.

The Washington Post reported that in 2017, the PA paid $183 million to families of “martyrs,” terrorists killed while attacking Israelis, and $160 million to prisoners, in Israeli jails for terror attacks against Israelis. 13,000 prisoners were paid $12,307, which is above the average income for Palestinians.

That is out $343 million of the $693 million that the PA received in foreign aid that year. Half of their aid goes to pay terrorists! The terror payments have since been increased and prisoners and their families now receive $3,000 or higher per month.

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy commissioned a poll in June 2017 which showed that 2/3 of the Palestinians were against the policy of financial rewards for terrorist and their families, especially since the terror payments take away foreign aid which is supposed to be helping to improve their quality of life.
Israel will only attain peace through victory
Ever since the Muslim conquest, occupation and colonization of the Middle East and North Africa in the seventh century, the region’s Jews, among others, lived under a dhimmi status. While the Arabic term dhimmi has been translated as “tolerated,” the actual meaning is far more sinister.

Under Islamic law, Jews were less than second-class citizens. They were a brutally oppressed minority, forced to pay special taxes called jizya, frequently forced to place distinctive signs on their houses and clothing and sometimes brutally humiliated in other ways.

The Egyptian-born British author Bat Ye’or wrote that the dhimmi status was a “relationship between conqueror and conquered,” and that “the dhimmi peoples bore the role of victim, vanquished by force; and indeed, it is after a war, a jihad, and after a defeat, that a nation becomes a dhimmi people.”

The Jewish people had lived in the region for millennia before being expelled and forced to flee by Arab leaders in the 20th century. Almost a million Jews had lived in the Middle East and North Africa before their status turned from perilous to entirely unwanted around the middle of the past century, most fleeing to the nascent State of Israel.

On Nov. 30, we will remember them on the Day of Commemoration for the Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries and Iran. We will remember their history, culture and tradition, maintained under difficult circumstances, and also their ethnic cleansing.
The Bahrain Economic Workshop Highlighted the Disparity between the Palestinians' Claims to Moral Superiority and Their Real Goals
The Peace to Prosperity Workshop on June 25-26, 2019, in Manama, Bahrain, was an event of major significance. The American representative, Jared Kushner, implicitly publicly questioned the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority and called for regime change, expressing the view that the PA was not serving its public.

From the founding of the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1964, the Palestinian national movement has firmly rejected the possibility of a compromise that would result in a peaceful settlement with Israel. It has steadfastly rejected the principle of Jewish nationhood and sovereignty and practices incitement to hatred and violence. It has also designated the United States as an enemy.

The Bahrain Workshop brought into full view the disparity between the Palestinians' real goals and their claims to moral superiority. The ideas which Jared Kushner articulated in the workshop and those of the Palestine Authority, which fixate on the politicide of Israel, remain in direct opposition.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Squabbling among ‘businessmen’ threatens US effort to engage Palestinians
US administration efforts to engage with Palestinians could be facing a setback in wake of a sharp dispute that has erupted among Palestinian figures who have agreed to work with President Donald Trump’s administration.

At the center of the row is a “revolt” by a number of Palestinian businessmen against Ashraf Jabari, the Hebron business leader who headed a Palestinian delegation to last July’s Bahrain economic workshop, sponsored by the Trump administration.

At the workshop, which was boycotted by the Palestinian Authority and most Arab countries, the Trump administration unveiled the economic portion of its long-awaited plan for peace in the Middle East, also known as the “Deal of the Century.”

Jabari, who is closely associated with some Trump administration officials and settler leaders, defied the PA boycott by traveling to Manama at the head of a seven-man delegation of businessmen from the West Bank belonging to a hitherto unknown group called Palestinian Business Network (PBN).

It remains unclear what he and his associates have accomplished by participating in the Bahrain conference. One thing is certain, however: Jabari has managed to alienate some of his colleagues, who are now seeking to distance themselves from the man and are waging a smear campaign against him.
Bolivia to renew Israel ties after rupture under Morales
Bolivia will restore diplomatic ties with Israel, a decade after then-President Evo Morales severed relations because of the 2008-2009 Gaza war known as Operation Cast Lead, the South American country said on Thursday.

The renewal of ties with Israel was announced by interim Foreign Minister Karen Longaric as part of an overhaul of Bolivia’s foreign policy following Morales’s resignation this month.

Many Israeli tourists visited Bolivia before Morales cut off relations with Israel, and the hope is that they will return, Longaric said.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed the Bolivian announcement.

He said Israel’s Foreign Ministry had worked for a lengthy period to restore relations.

The ouster of Bolivia’s former hostile president, Morales, and replacement with a “friendly government” had also made it possible, Katz said.
Belgian officials boycott trade delegation to Israel
Two of Belgium’s local governments pulled out of a trade delegation to Israel, citing alleged violations of international law and lack of progress in the peace process.

The foreign trade secretary of the government of the Brussels region, Pascal Smet, announced the move Thursday, the RTBF broadcaster reported. The move is a major victory for proponents of attempts to boycott Israel, who have so far had few breakthroughs in their attempts to shape Belgian-Israeli relations.

Elio Di Rupo, a former prime minister of the kingdom of Belgium and the current prime minister of the Belgian state of Wallonia, last week pulled out of the delegation, which is set to take place Dec 8-11 and include businessmen and representatives of commercial enterprises from across Belgium.

“The lack of progress in the peace process, the lack of progress on the ground and the violation by Israel of major elements of the Geneva Convention are prompting us to hold back on official cooperation,” Di Rupo said.
Instinct Beats Technology in Airport Security
Israel takes airport security extremely seriously, as I discovered when passing through the new Ramon airport.

A mandatory pre-flight interview takes place before check-in. Questions range from the highly specific ("When did you book your flight?") to the humdrum, such as your daily routine at work or favorite football team.

"The way a passenger answers is more important than what the answer is," says Philip Baum, visiting professor of aviation security at Coventry University.

"There is a profiler at every entrance to the airport building. They will stop people who do not meet baseline expectations."

In Britain you have to prove you are not carrying liquids in containers over 100 ml., and take off your shoes. But Israel does not fret about liquids, nor electronics in your cabin baggage.

"The system is based on a common-sense approach of identifying negative intent rather than the carriage of prohibited articles," says Baum. Instinct can be smarter than technology.
IDF's Targeted Warning System Reduced Sirens by 50 Percent
The new precise warning system implemented by the Israeli military cut down the number of incoming rocket sirens by 50% across the country during the last round of violence between the IDF and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

More than 400 rockets were fired by the Iranian-backed Gazan terror group towards southern and central Israel over 50 hours, shutting down the country for hours and sending millions to bomb shelters.

But officers in the Home Front Command told The Jerusalem Post that thanks to the new targeted alert system, about 80 localities with 500,000 Israelis did not hear a single incoming rocket siren.

“During the last conflict we saw it in real-time and we were able to see what it does for civilians,” Early Warning Operations Section Head, Maj. Tohar Nitzan, told The Jerusalem Post. “This week we looked at the numbers from operation and saw that had we still been using the old system, there would have been twice the number of warnings. We saved citizens from 50% of the sirens.”

Instead of 2.2 million people experiencing an incoming rocket siren, only 1.7 million people were affected by the last round of violence, which for the first time in years reached central Israeli cities like Tel Aviv, Holon and Rishon Lezion.
Outrage after Supreme Court justice offers condolences to family of terrorist
Supreme Court Justice Neal Hendel sparked widespread outrage in Israel on Wednesday when he told the family of a convicted terrorist who recently died in jail that he “shared in their sorrow.”

The US-born jurist’s comments were included in a ruling he issued voiding an early release petition by the family of Sami Abu Diak, who died Tuesday in Israeli custody after battling cancer. He died before the court was able to hear his case.

Abu Diak was serving three life sentences for voluntary manslaughter and kidnapping, among other charges. He was linked to the armed wing of the Palestinian Fatah faction and was arrested in the early 2000s, during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising. He was convicted over the killing of Ilya Krivitz, a Jewish resident of the Homesh settlement, in 2001 and was involved in the killing of three Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israeli security forces, according to reports.

The Palestinian Authority and Abu Diak’s family had asked for his release to allow him to die at his family’s side, but Israeli officials denied the request. The Palestinians also reached out to European countries and the Red Cross to apply pressure on Israel to release him.

After a public outcry over his expression of empathy, Hendel withdrew his ruling and released a new one without the controversial wording, explaining that it had not been proper for him to issue it by himself. The new, nearly identical, ruling was signed by three judges.

Hendel also apologized to the Krivich family.
ITIC: Identity of the Palestinian fatalities in the latest round of escalation in the Gaza Strip (PDF)
On November 12-14, 2019, a round of escalation took place in the Gaza Strip following the killing of Bahaa Abu al-Atta, a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). In response to his killing, the PIJ fired about 560 rockets to Israeli territory. The IDF attacked terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip, mostly belonging to the PIJ. Among the attacked targets
were rocket launching squads before and after a launch; rocket launching sites; weapons depots; a plant for manufacturing long-distance rockets; training compounds; outposts; operations rooms and observation posts, as well as underground facilities of the PIJ.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip reported that 34 Palestinians had been killed in the latest round of escalation (with Bahaa Abu al-Atta and his wife among them). From within the 34 killed Palestinians, at least 18 (about 53%) were identified as military operatives, most of them (13) operatives of the PIJ’s military wing, who were the targets
in most of the attacks. In addition, several fatalities were identified as belonging to minor terror networks, most of them operatives of Fatah splinter networks who took part in firing at Israel. Among the fatalities, there was a prominent number of operatives of the rocket launching network, who were killed while attempting to fire at Israel (which is an indication of the efficiency of the Israeli security forces in thwarting the firing attacks). In addition, nine civilians were killed, most of them members of one family in Deir al-Balah, whose home was attacked by the IDF as a result of mistaken identification (the case is under an IDF examination). A Hamas military operative was also killed, and another operative affiliated with Hamas. The large number of PIJ operatives who were killed reflects its central role in the last round of escalation (while Hamas refrained from joining the fighting).
Palestinian said shot dead by IDF troops at unofficial Gaza protest
A Palestinian teenager was killed Friday afternoon as Israeli troops opened fire at a group of protesters near the Gaza-Israel border, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry reported.

The ministry said 16-year-old Fahed al-Astal was shot in the stomach, and that five others were wounded.

Witnesses said dozens of people had gathered near the perimeter fence east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, though there were no official demonstrations planned.

An IDF spokesman did not directly comment on the incident but said some demonstrators had approached the border fence and attempted to sabotage it. Troops responded with less-lethal means as well as some live fire.

For the third straight week, the territory’s Hamas rulers canceled the regular Friday protests for fear of instability. This was followed by two days of fighting between Israel and the smaller Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group earlier this month.
Talks between Hamas and Israel renewed - report
Talks concerning an agreement between the Hamas terrorist group and Israel have renewed in the past two days said Hamas officials to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar on Friday, according to Ynet.

The UN's Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolay Mladenov is expected to meet with the leadership of Hamas in the coming days in order to complete talks about an agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Mladenov will also discuss a long-term agreement addressing issues such as prisoners, hostages and missing people and the easing of the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

A senior official familiar with the negotiations told Ynet that there is still no breakthrough concerning the Israelis being held by Hamas although the official added that the implementation of understandings could make bring progress to the negotiations.

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, denied any progress related to a potential prisoner swap with Israel.

“There’s no progress in the negotiations with the occupation,” he told the Turkish news agency Anadolu. “The Israeli government is not prepared to pay a price for a new prisoner exchange.”
In Ramallah, hundreds of Israelis join Palestinians to ‘unify forces’ for peace
Fatah official Jibril Rajoub says presence of Israelis at solidarity event proves there is a partner for peace; activists boo Neturei Karta rabbi slating ‘Zionist entity’

Hundreds of Israelis flocked to the Palestinian Authority presidential headquarters in Ramallah on Thursday to participate in an event marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The Israelis, many of who are veteran activists in left-wing groups and organizations, arrived at the PA presidential headquarters in large buses from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other parts of Israel. They were joined by several Palestinian officials, activists and religious leaders.

A number of the Palestinian officials told their Israeli guests that they appreciated their participation in the event, with Fatah Central Committee secretary-general Jibril Rajoub stating that it indicated that there was an Israeli partner for peace.

“I hope that my family, people and the leadership in Palestine, which I am part of, realize what the presence of hundreds of Israelis [here] on the anniversary of November 29 means,” Rajoub said, referring to the date that the United Nations in 1947 voted to accept a resolution that partitioned British-ruled Palestine into “independent Arab and Jewish states.” The day is celebrated in Israel as a first step toward the creation of the Jewish state a year later; in 1977 the UN declared it as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

“This is a significant message that there is an Israeli partner. I say to the Israelis: Understand us well. Many Palestinians only see Baruch Marzel, Smotrich and those faces who do not represent you,” he stated, alluding to right-wing Israeli politicians — Marzel from the hardline Otzma Yehudit party which failed to enter the Knesset in recent elections, and Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich who heads the National Union faction in the Jewish Home-National Union alliance.
Lebanon Crisis and US Aid Freeze Put Hezbollah in the Spotlight
Violent clashes broke out in Beirut and other areas of Lebanon on Tuesday night, making it three straight nights of clashes in a row, as anti-corruption protests that began five weeks ago push Lebanon into an economic crisis that risks aggravating already tense sectarian tensions.

Clashes and gunfire between supporters of Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Saad al-Hariri, and Shi’ite groups Hezbollah and Amal risked turning the protests into a more violent conflict, Reuters reported based on local media accounts.

Eyal Zisser, an Israeli expert on Syria and Lebanon and the vice rector of Tel Aviv University, said that the current upheaval in Lebanon marks the first time Hezbollah has been criticized domestically.

“This is significant because even the Shi’ites consider Hezbollah responsible or partly responsible for the crisis affecting Lebanon,” said Zisser. “Therefore, in the long run, this has meaning, and without a doubt, it harms Hezbollah’s power.”

Zisser went on to emphasize that it’s necessary to understand that Hezbollah has been sitting in the Lebanese government since 2005, and thus “can no longer say that it has no say on the matter.”

“Hezbollah has grown and expanded over the years, and became corrupt,” he added.
After more than 400 killed in 2 months of protests, Iraqi PM says he will resign
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi said Friday he would submit his resignation to parliament, a day after more than 40 people were killed by security forces and following calls by Iraq’s top Shiite cleric for lawmakers to withdraw support.

In a statement, Abdul-Mahdi said he “listened with great concern” to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s sermon and made his decision in response to his call and in order to “facilitate and hasten its fulfillment as soon as possible.”

“I will submit to parliament an official memorandum resigning from the current prime ministry so that the parliament can review its choices,” he said. Abdul-Mahdi was appointed prime minister just over a year ago as a consensus candidate between political blocs.

Al-Sistani said parliament, which elected the government of Abdul-Mahdi, should “reconsider its options” in his weekly Friday sermon delivered in the holy city of Najaf via a representative.

“We call upon the House of Representatives from which this current government emerged to reconsider its options in that regard,” al-Sistani said in the statement.
Pompeo: Iran should know there is a cost to malign activity 'wherever it takes place'
"Hi, this is Mike," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said right at the start of my phone conversation with him. I was told he has always been down-to-earth with everyone, even as the CIA director or a congressman or a businessman, and the way he began our conversation demonstrated that.

Pompeo is a very strong supporter of Israel, and as is the case in many aspects of his work, his actions reflect his words.

Just minutes after he was sworn in at the State Department in April 2018, he departed on his first foreign trip, which included Israel. This was no coincidence.

He had been less than 49 hours on the job when he met Israeli officials, and the message was clear: the Trump administration's second secretary of state is a very powerful and active official and our small country is very much a priority.

Pompeo embarked on a different path than what had been pursued by his predecessor Rex Tillerson and the State Department's bureaucracy.

He has also made sure this new approach is shown in a variety of steps and statements that double down on where the US stands on moral issues.

This has been very much apparent regarding Iran. Pompeo has presented Tehran with 12 demands that it must meet before the US lifts the sanctions it imposed as part of the administration's maximum pressure on the Islamic republic. Just this week Pompeo announced new sanctions against Iranian officials.

Another bold step that was made under his watch, through the leadership of President Trump, is on Israeli settlements. Pompeo announced earlier this month that the administration was reverting to the Reagan administration's position. Namely, the new approach means that the US no longer sees all settlements as a violation of international law just because they are settlements.







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