Pompeo: Other Arab countries will normalize relations with Israel

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo takes part in a security briefing on Mount Bental in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, near Merom Golan on the border with Syria, on November 19, 2020. (File/AFP)

• Pompeo said Washington will continue working for peace in the region
• He also said the US held a consistent stance towards Iran during Trump’s time in the office

DUBAI: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said other Arab countries will also normalize ties with Israel, Al-Arabiya TV reported on Sunday.
Washington will continue working for peace in the region, while keeping the threat of Iran in mind, he added.
The US was looking to create a peace deal between Palestine and Israel, but the Palestinian leadership refused to participate, Pompeo said.
“I am very confident that other nations will join what the Emiratis, Bahrainis, and Sudanese have done and recognize the rightful place of Israel among nations,” he told Al-Arabiya in an exclusive interview.
“They’ll do it because it’s the right thing to do for their nation, because of increased prosperity and security for their country,” Pompeo added.
The US Secretary of State explained how this was possible to Washington’s role in “laying down the risks in the Middle East from the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
“The reality is that now the Gulf states and Israel recognized they have a common threat from Iran,” the Secretary of State said, adding that the US “would love for the Palestinians to engage with Israel [but] their leadership has rejected President Trump’s vision for peace,” Pompeo added.
He also said the US held a consistent stance towards Iran during Trump’s time in the office.
“We’ve delivered on every commitment we’ve made to countries in the Middle East, we’ve protected Americans, we’ve built up partners who want to partner with the United States of America,” Pompeo said during the interview, adding, “there’s no reason that’ll change while President Trump is in office.”