JERUSALEM – The Biden administration’s recent decision to rescind the Trump-era “Pompeo Doctrine,” which declared Jewish residence legal in the core biblical areas of the Holy Land, has come under intense criticism.
Biden’s controversial move came to light in late February as Israel continued its offensive in the Gaza Strip to root out Hamas terrorists after launching a war against the Jewish state on October 7. became.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News Digital, “By reversing the Pompeo Doctrine, President Biden has decided to ignore the fact that Judea and Samaria is Israeli land, and insensitively move it toward peace.” “We made the same mistake that Israel likes to do, seeing it as an obstacle to the future.” He is the predecessor of the Obama administration. ”
“Undermining Israel’s right to exist in the Jewish homeland deepens and prolongs the conflict,” Pompeo said. “The obstacle to peace is not Israeli settlements. and refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist.” , the terrible atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, and the survival of Hamas. They are real obstacles to peace. ”
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A view of the community of Aaron in the Judean desert. (TPS)
Although the international community primarily refers to Israel’s ancient Biblical land as the West Bank, many Israelis refer to the area by its Biblical name, Judea and Samaria. During his tenure, Mr. Pompeo said that the Israeli Jews living in Judea and Samaria, where most of Biblical history unfolded, No violation international law.
US Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller defended Biden’s decision Aiming to overturn the Pompeo Doctrine, he said, “Reconciliation is a barrier to peace, not just the Biden administration, not just the Obama administration, but Republican administrations as well. ‘s position,” he said. “They are obstacles to peace. We believe they weaken rather than strengthen Israel’s security.”
Former West Bank Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Getty Images | West Bank: TPS | Getty Images)
In response to a question about the Biden administration’s watering down of the Pompeo Doctrine, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson told FOX News Digital. “I’m not going to comment on this.”
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David Friedman, former US ambassador to Israel during the Trump administration, I wrote to X After the policy change, Secretary of State Antony said, “Blinken is 100% wrong. I have investigated this matter for over a year with numerous State Department attorneys. There is nothing illegal about Jews living in their Biblical homeland. In fact, Undersecretary of State Eugene Rostow, dean of Yale Law School (who negotiated U.N. Security Council Resolution 242), also stated that Israel has the highest legal rights to Judea and Samaria. Ta. It is unconscionable for Blinken to announce this in the middle of a war and when the Jewish Sabbath has already begun in Israel. ”
Many Republicans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express their anger over Biden’s reversal of the Pompeo Doctrine.
The Jewish community of Avnei Hafetz in the West Bank. (Eitan Schweber/TPS)
Sen. Bill Hagerty, Republican, Tennessee; “Ambassador @DavidM_Friedman is right. The Biden administration’s shameful reversal is to reward the genocidal terrorists they are fighting while hurting our closest friends. This is not a legal assessment. It appeases the pro-Hamas radical left. “It’s a political calculation aimed at doing something. It’s shameful.” . ”
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UN Security Council Resolution 242 was passed after Israel’s 1967 war of self-defense against Arab states. UNSCR 242 is not mandatory. Israel’s withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, which it occupied during the 1967 Six-Day War.
The Israeli government has long considered Judea and Samaria to be disputed territory, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government welcomed the introduction of the Pompeo Doctrine in 2019.
Many Republicans supported X, denouncing the Biden administration’s decision to repeal the Pompeo Doctrine as a “slap in the face to Israel.” (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Jewish settlement of Har Blaha is located in the Biblical heart of Samaria in the West Bank. (Eitan Schweber/TPS)
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Miller said the question of whether settlements in Judea and Samaria are legal “has been under consideration in this department for some time.”
He added: “In recent months, the Secretary-General has begun a process to secure lasting peace in the region and establish an independent Palestinian state, and those of us involved in that important process are committed to: I thought that was important.” Avoid ambiguity about the US position on this issue. ”
