This week has seen two very significant statements from the United States, made by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
1) The BDS movement is Antisemitic
This week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed that the United States will recognise the Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement as Antisemitic and that it will withdraw funding from groups that boycott Israel.
During his meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s capital Jerusalem, Pompeo said “We will recognise the global BDS campaign as antisemitic,” he said. “The time is right… We want to join all the other nations that recognise BDS for the cancer that it is.”
Read more about the United States’ decision here.
2) Settlement goods to be labelled “made in Israel”
One year on from confirming that the United States no longer considered the settlements as illegal under international law, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, during an unprecedented visit to the Golan Heights, announced that the United States will require produce from Jewish settlements in the Judea and Samaria / the West Bank to be labelled “made in Israel,”.
Read more about this here.
And on this day in history
On this day in history, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat made history on November 20, 1977when he became the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel to meetwith then Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, and spoke to the Knesset.
Read more about this here and click here to read Sadat’s full address to the Knesset.