NORTH CENTRAL OHIO- In a stinging rebuke of both Barack Obama and the European Union, last week Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a dramatic shift in U.S. foreign policy, declaring Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria as “not illegal.” Several Ohio leaders are ecstatic over the Trump Administration’s shift concerning the area known as the “cradle of Jewish civilization.”
“The President’s change in policy is great and sends a strong statement to the world,” says Reverend Jim Garrett, Lead Pastor of Ontario Christian Fellowship.
(Photo courtesy of OCF Facebook)
“Last week we were part of a group touring Jericho inside the West Bank. I believe this new policy has the potential to unify Palestinians with Jews and not alienate them. In my opinion, the big secret mainstream media conceals is the cooperation taking place right now between Jews and Palestinian Christians.”
Israeli leadership is also excited about the reversal in U.S. Middle East policy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not mince words.
“This policy reflects a historical truth that the Jewish people are not foreign colonialists in Judea and Samaria. In fact, we are called Jews because we are the people of Judea.”
“This policy reflects a historical truth – that the Jewish people are not foreign colonialists in Judea and Samaria. In fact, we are called Jews because we are the people of Judea.”
Israeli Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu
Conversley, a November European Court of Justice’s verdict requires EU member states to place distinct labels on Jewish-made exports from Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
According to Secretary of State Pompeo, not only are Israeli settlements not illegal, they are arguably more justified than civilian settlements built in other disputed territories.
“The unsupported allegation that Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria are illegal was the basis for the 2016 United Nations (U.N.) Security Council Resolution 2334,” stated Pompeo during the announcement.
Following U.N. Resolution 2334, over one hundred north central Ohio clergy sent an apology letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu to reconcile for the U.S. Federal government’s inaptitude.
Pro-Israel organization Christians United for Israel has six million members in the United States and is one of the leading Christian grassroots movements in the nation. Its State Director Ed Douglas, of Chardon Ohio, released a statement by CUFI:
“The revocation of the Hansell memorandum is the latest in the Trump administration’s consistent and considerable support for our ally Israel. We are grateful to President Trump for treating Israel like an ally and respecting the will of the Israeli people as expressed by their elected government.
“America’s new position concerning Israel is a one hundred-eighty degree reversal of the Obama administration’s position on the settlements. If the U.S. is to be a loyal and true friend to Israel, we cannot seek to impose our will upon the Jewish state,” Douglas shared. “We must honor the Jewish state’s sovereign right to make decisions on matters of war and peace, free of international interference.”
Each year CUFI brings hundreds of pastors to Israel on Pastor Leadership Tours. These intensive learning tours turn clergy merely sympathetic to Israel to committed pro-Israeli activists.
View the C-Span video below of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement regarding the Trump Administation’s reversal on foreign policy towards the West Bank.
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