Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in Israel, where he toured an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. In a surprise move, Pompeo also said he would tour a settlement in the occupied Golan Heights — on Syrian land illegally annexed by Israel in 1981. It’s the first time a U.S. secretary of state has toured Israeli settlements, which violate multiple U.N. resolutions and the Geneva Conventions.
Speaking in Jerusalem alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Pompeo said the U.S. would label the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement “anti-Semitic.” The BDS campaign is a global nonviolent movement seeking to pressure the Israeli government over its treatment of Palestinians. Many of its leaders are Jewish peace activists.