JERUSALEM (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s expected tour of a West Bank winery this week will be the first time a top U.S. diplomat has visited an Israeli settlement, a parting gift from an administration that has taken unprecedented steps to support Israel’s claims to war-won territory.
President Donald Trump has already broken with his predecessors by recognizing contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and repudiating the decades-old U.S. position that settlements are inconsistent with international law.
The visit to the winery — which released a blended red wine named for the secretary last year — would be yet another gift to Israel in the final weeks of Trump’s presidency, even as neither Trump nor Pompeo have acknowledged President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
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