(AP/Carolyn Kaster)
Mike Pompeo

“Decisions about Israelis extending sovereignty to [Judea and Samaria] are decisions for the Israelis to make,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared after the UN told Israel to cancel annexation.

By Ezra Stone, United with Israel

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed condemnation by the United Nations and the Arab League related to Israel’s extension of sovereignty over Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

“Decisions about Israelis extending sovereignty to [Judea and Samaria] are decisions for the Israelis to make,” said Pompeo.

He made the remarks to reporters in the wake of comments from by Arab League head Ahmed Aboul Gheit to a United Nations (UN) meeting, who argued that Israeli sovereignty could cause “a religious war in and beyond [the Middle East],” The Associated Press reported.

Gheit also claimed Israeli sovereignty over Jewish communities “would not only be detrimental to the chances of peace today but will destroy any prospects for peace in the future,” claiming it would have “broader ramifications on the international security around the world.”

Israel plans to initiate the sovereignty process on July 1.

“We are talking to all of the countries in the region about how it is we can manage this process for our end-state objective,” Pompeo told reporters, AFP reported.

“I regret only that the Palestinian Authority has refused to participate in [the process],” Pompeo added, referring to the Palestinian leadership’s consistent policy of rejectionism and total boycott of the Trump administration since 2017.

“I remain hopeful that in the coming weeks, we can begin to make real progress,” he said, referring to Trump’s Mideast plan.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded that Israel abandon sovereignty for Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

Contradicting legal opinions from the U.S. State Department and the conclusions of experts in international law, Guterres claimed sovereignty “would constitute a most serious violation of international law, grievously harm the prospect of a two-state solution and undercut the possibilities of a renewal of negotiations.”

The UN’s anti-Israel bias is the world’s worst-kept secret, permitting its so-called Human Rights Council, which counts among its member states some of the world’s worst human rights abusers, to maintain a permanent agenda item for investigating manufactured claims against the world’s only Jewish state.