Israel could be forced to attack Iran due to U.S. "appeasement," former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday while in Jerusalem.
Appearing at the Jerusalem Post Conference, Pompeo was asked if Israel will need to take military action against Iran as a result of Biden administration policies that include seeking a return to the Iran Nuclear Deal.
"The risk of appeasement is you embolden your adversaries that ultimately they put nations in the place where they’re stuck with only one tool – a military tool," Pompeo said during a Q&A with Post editor-in-chief Yaakov Katz. "This is not in the best interests of anyone.
"I pray that we do not force Israel into a really difficult decision one day, but I pray even more than that — I pray that if it is the case that something like that has to happen, if the world must deny the Iranians a nuclear weapon, that the United States will be part of making that happen."
Pompeo said the Trump administration, which withdrew from the deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, took actions that prevented Iran from gathering resources needed to develop a nuclear program.
"You only need to go to [former] President [Donald] Trump’s Twitter account — we were never going to allow Iran get a nuclear weapon on our watch," said Pompeo, considered a possible contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
"There's no doubt that the policies we adopted made Israel, the United States, and the world safer from the Iranian regime. I’m as certain of that as I am sitting with you here today."
Pompeo said the Trump administration needed 12-24 more months to make the Iran Nuclear Deal "longer, better, stronger."
"The JCPOA, this nuclear deal, was nuts," he said. "It guaranteed a pathway for the Iranians to ultimately develop a nuclear weapon."
Pompeo also said that opening a U.S. consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem was "a terrible idea for the United States, Israel, and the Palestinian people." Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in May that the U.S. would reopen the Jerusalem consulate that traditionally engaged with Palestinians, The Washington Post reported.
Adding that it was in the best interest of the Palestinians to engage in conversation with Israel, Pompeo said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was not a partner for peace.
"The only way you get to a resolution in this conflict is through dialog," Pompeo said. "There are complex issues, but you cannot resolve them by urging your people to threaten intifada when things do not go your way."
Pompeo said he was convinced there are multiple Arab nations that will come to recognize Israel as a "partner in peace and prosperity."
"The Abraham Accords are a demonstrable path forward that every people in this region can choose," he said. "Israel is a nation of peace, and Palestinians can have better lives."
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