Mike Pompeo: Biden's stance on Israel and Iran 'emboldens terrorists'
Rockets being fired at Tel Aviv
Rockets fired at Israel amid heightened tensions with Palestine, Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst with more.
EXCLUSIVE: Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tore into President Biden’s foreign policy regarding Israel and Iran, saying its stance on the long-standing disputes in the region “emboldens terrorists.”
Pompeo’s criticism comes after Hamas followers launched rockets into Jerusalem on Monday night, following clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters.
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Pompeo said the Biden administration has “clearly signaled less support” for Israelis’ right to self-defense than the Trump administration, and that doing so “invites precisely the kinds of violence we are seeing in the region today.”
“Simple things like President Biden delaying his call with Israeli leadership and restarting funding to the [Palestinian Authority] through the [United Nations], all tell Hamas and terrorists in the West Bank that America places less value on the relationship between Israel and the United States,” the former secretary of state said.
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Pompeo, a Fox News contributor, said the White House’s “shift in policy” toward the Islamic Republic of Iran is dangerous.
“Think about this: today, Iran hosts and protects the Iranian regime’s most senior operational leaders,” said Pompeo. “This week we seized a massive weapons cargo almost certainly headed from Iran to the Iranian proxy Houthis in Yemen — which this administration has now unexplainably declared not to be terrorists.”
“And, now, Biden’s team is allowing hundreds of millions of dollars to go to the Iranian regime in the form of crude oil being shipped to the Chinese Communist Party,” the former Trump Cabinet member continued.
“All of this signals to the Iran-backed Hamas fighters: Now is the time to fire rockets and gain global recognition and support for your asserted grievances,” he said.
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Pompeo added that it “should come as no surprise” that the U.S. trying to reenter the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal — began to unravel “the coalition that [the Trump administration] built” with Israel.
He also said that the Biden administration “is determined to give Iran a pathway to a nuclear weapon by reentering the JCPOA” and that doing so will “put our ally Israel in a position that it has to take military action.”
“The Biden mantra of ‘JCPOA or war’ has it exactly backwards. When we left that incompetent agreement, there was no war, Pompeo continued. “Indeed, three nations joined the Abraham Accords declaring peace with Israel.
“Reentering the JCPOA, as we can now taste in Gaza, is the action that will reduce peace and create the conditions to cause a war that could escalate to include many countries,” he added.
Pompeo’s criticism of Biden comes after rockets were launched by the Palestinian terror group Hamas targeting Jerusalem during the city’s Jerusalem Day celebration.
Israel responded to the attack with airstrikes into Gaza and the exchange of violence has not stopped since Monday.
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Hamas’ attacks on Israel were met with condemnation from U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Fox News’ Kelly Laco contributed to this report.
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