Pompeo, Weighing Presidential Run, Calls PA President A “Known Terrorist”

By Staff, Agencies

Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who is considering running for the presidency in 2024, has said that Palestinian Authority [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas is a “terrorist” and hedged on support for a “two-state” solution.

Pompeo, in comments made to the One Decision Podcast released on Thursday, also dismissed US concerns over the “Israeli” government’s judicial overhaul and expressed support for settlers.

He criticized the Obama administration for its negotiations with Abbas, referring to the Palestinian president by his nickname, Abu Mazen.

“Our theory of the case was this – what is in America’s best interest? Is it to sit and wait for Abu Mazen, a known terrorist who’s killed lots and lots of people, including Americans, and given those martyrs money, for having done so?” Pompeo said of the Trump administration’s approach. “We said that’s just not in America’s best interest.”

He did not offer evidence for the claim against Abbas during the talk with hosts Julia Macfarlane, a journalist; and former chief of the UK’s MI6 intelligence agency Sir Richard Dearlove.

The PA pays stipends to Palestinians who undertake operations against “Israelis” and their families. The payments have long been a point of contention between the US and the Palestinians.

Pompeo brushed off concerns about the government led by “Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu working to weaken the judiciary. The drastic overhaul proposal has led to mass protests in the “Israeli” entity and warnings from legal experts, economic officials and foreign governments, including the US.

“I don’t want to get in the center of ‘Israeli’ politics. That relationship is absolutely vital to us,” Pompeo said.

The US relationship with the Palestinians soured under the Trump administration. Abbas cut ties with Washington after Trump recognized al-Quds [Jerusalem] as the so-called capital of the “Israeli” entity.

In 2019, Pompeo broke with longstanding US policy by declaring “Israeli” settlements “not per se inconsistent with international law.”

Pompeo, a former CIA director, said in late January that he is considering a presidential run and will announce a decision in the coming months.

He would be running against Trump, who was the first Republican to announce his candidacy.