Mike Pompeo
Mike PompeoReuters

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday clarified comments he shared with Jewish leaders regarding the Trump administration’s peace plan.

On Sunday, The Washington Post quoted comments from an off-the-record meeting held last week between Pompeo and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

“I get why people think this is going to be a deal that only the Israelis could love. I understand the perception of that. I hope everyone will just give the space to listen and let it settle in a little bit,” Pompeo was quoted as having said in that report.

On Monday, in an interview with the Sinclair Broadcast Group, Pompeo clarified those statements.

“We have a deep, long relationship with Israel, an important relationship with Israel, and the President has made very clear that that’s important to this administration to have that important political, economic, and security relationship with Israel. And we’ve struggled more with respect to the Palestinians. We’ve watched their terror activity in the Gaza Strip, and we’ve pushed back against it. We watched Iran underwrite some of that, and we’ve pushed back against that,” he said.

“So I can see how someone might be concerned that a plan that this administration put forward might, without knowing the true facts of what is contained in the plan, they might perceive that it was going to be fundamentally one-sided. And I was articulating that there because it’s just simply not true,” explained Pompeo.

“I think there’ll be things in this plan that lots of people like, and I am confident, as I said – I think it was quoted in that paper as well – there’ll be something in there that everyone will find I’m concerned with. Our idea is to present a vision and to continue to work towards a very, very difficult situation’s conclusion,” he added.

The contents of the Trump administration’s peace plan have yet to be revealed, but the economic part of the plan is set to be unveiled at a conference in Bahrain later this month.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has rejected the US peace plan before it has even been unveiled. The PA has been boycotting the US ever since President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December of 2017.