Former US Secretary of State: Biden admin appears intent on giving Iran hundreds of billions of dollars. That would be an enormous mistake.
By: Yoni Kempinski
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Israel National News at the Israel Heritage Foundation event in New York City.
Asked if the United States is listening to the Israeli opinion on the nuclear deal with Iran, Pompeo replied, “There is no evidence that this administration is listening to the Israelis, or frankly to others in the region who are really worried about Iran having a nuclear weapon. They appear intent on giving them hundreds of billions of dollars with which to continue their terror campaign. That would be an enormous mistake.”
On Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria, which he has expressed support for in the past but the Biden administration opposes, Pompeo said, “It all begins with the simple understanding of Judea and Samaria as the rightful homeland of the Jewish people. Once you begin in that place and recognize that Israelis aren’t occupiers, this isn’t an apartheid nation but rather this is their homeland, then – Jews who want to build there, frankly they live alongside Christians and Arabs in the place – this administration has just taken the position that the progressive left in America has held for a long time, which is antithetical to understanding Israel’s right to this place.”
Asked about US officials demanding that Israel reassess the IDF’s rules of engagement following the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, Pompeo said he is not surprised by the demands.
“It should be America’s view that the Israeli people have a right, just like every nation has a right, to defend its own people, to protect its own sovereignty, to place demands on them about how they engage – We all want everyone to live alongside each other in peace and harmony, but when there’s a terror threat, the Israeli government has a responsibility to protect its own people,” said Pompeo.
Asked whether he would run for President in 2024, the former Secretary of State replied, “Not much has changed. We’re still trying to figure our way through this. We’re probably six months closer than when we last spoke. Come the first of the year or the beginning of the next, Susan and I will have to make a decision. I’m just praying that America gets the right next leader.”
In August of this year, INN reported that Pompeo was also a target of the Iranian assassination plot which targeted former National Security Advisor John Bolton. CNN cited a federal law enforcement source familiar with the investigation and a source close to Pompeo in their original report.
Pompeo was informed directly by the Justice Department that he was the second target of an IRGC assassination plot, the source close to Pompeo told CNN.
In August, the Justice Department announced that an Iranian operative has been charged in a plot to assassinate Bolton.
Shahram Poursafi, an alleged member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, is wanted by the FBI in connection with the plot.
Poursafi is accused of offering an American citizen $300,000 to assassinate Bolton. According to the indictment, Iran sought to assassinate Bolton in retaliation for the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in January 2020.
Pompeo served as former President Donald Trump’s Secretary of State at the time of the air strike that killed Soleimani.
