Pompeo visits museum honoring Christian Zionists as he wraps up Israel trip
US secretary of state hails Friends of Zion Museum for its ‘efforts to combat BDS and anti-Semitism internationally,’ day after saying America will crack down on boycott movement
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrapped up a trip to Israel on Friday with a visit to a museum in Jerusalem that honors Christian Zionists and was founded by a prominent evangelical adviser to the Trump administration.
The museum visit came a day after Pompeo became the first secretary of state to visit an Israeli settlement in the West Bank and visited the contested Golan Heights. He also announced a new policy allowing settlement products exported to the US to be labeled “made in Israel” and a new initiative to combat the Palestinian-led international boycott movement, which he said would be designated as “anti-Semitic.”
Christian Zionism is a belief by some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 were in accordance with biblical prophecy. The Friends of Zion Museum was founded by Mike Evans, a prominent evangelical supporter of Israel. Evangelical Christians are among President Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters and have hailed his unprecedented support for Israel. They would also be an important constituency should Pompeo pursue elected office following Trump’s presidency.
Pompeo did not deliver any public remarks at the museum and departed Israel later Friday.
“Thanks to the Friends of Zion Museum for an enriching tour and continued support for US-Israel relations, particularly efforts to combat BDS and anti-Semitism internationally,” Pompeo tweeted. “We share common causes of a safe, secure and prosperous Israel and a world free of anti-Semitism.”
The Trump administration has broken with decades of US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem, adopted the position that settlements are not contrary to international law, recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights — which Pompeo also visited on Thursday — and released a Middle East plan that critics said overwhelmingly favored Israel and was rejected by the Palestinians.
It has also adopted a “maximum pressure” campaign against Israel’s enemy Iran while brokering normalization agreements with Arab nations, many of whom share the Jewish state’s hostility toward Tehran.
The moves Pompeo announced Thursday are largely symbolic and could be easily reversed by President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration. But it was a powerful show of support for Israel and its Christian allies.
Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. The Palestinians view the settlements as a violation of international law and argue they are a major obstacle to peace, a position shared by most of the international community.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the same war and later annexed it. Last year, the US became the first country to recognize it as part of Israel, a position Pompeo reaffirmed during his visit to the strategic plateau on Thursday.
Biden is opposed to settlement construction and has vowed to adopt a more evenhanded approach aimed at reviving peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
