Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

QUESTION:  Welcome back to the Ben Shapiro Show.  We’re joined on the line by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.  Obviously, the Secretary has very busy day.  Secretary, really appreciate your time, sir.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Ben, it’s great to be back on the show with you.

QUESTION:  So let’s start by sort of going through some of the details of the Trump peace plan, the deal of the century.  Obviously, you would expect the resistance from the usual points of view, but what are the actual kind of barebones of the plan being presented by President Trump today?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Ben, the President’s taken on one of the longest challenges, toughest challenges in foreign policy.  And it is the most detailed, most realistic plan ever presented.  And what’s important for everyone to know is there’s now a live offer on the table – and this hasn’t been the case before – a live offer on the table for the Palestinians to consider over a four-year period.

I can go through a bunch of the details.  For the first time, there’s a plan that ensures Israeli security, that’s endorsed by the Israeli security establishment.  Israel will be able to defend itself.  It creates a viable path for the Palestinians to get a state, conditioned on a reasonable set of milestones being achieved over a reasonable period of time.  Jerusalem remains an open city under Israeli control and sovereignty inside the security barrier.  And no change in the status on the Temple Mount; the status quo will be preserved there.

We think this is a reasonable basis for the parties to begin to engage in a vision that can lead to peace and prosperity and security.

QUESTION:  Now Secretary Pompeo, what the plan really represents, for those who are knowledgeable about the region at all, is a reflection of just basic realities on the ground.  Jerusalem cannot be divided; there’s no physical way to divide it.  When it was divided in the past, before 1967, it was barred to entry for Jews as well as many Christians.  The notion that Israel is going to dismantle major Jewish areas outside of the 1967 lines not only ignores Israel having an actual claim to that land – it’s a disputed claim by the Palestinians, but they do have a legitimate claim – it recognizes that Israel is not going to dismantle cities that have tens of thousands of people living in them.  It also recognizes that the Palestinians are not going to be abandoning the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria, or the Gaza Strip anytime soon, and it recognizes the security challenges that are faced when in what is an extremely crowded neighborhood.

Does the fact that there are so many people who are kicking back against the plan I think is recognition of the fact that people are unwilling to recognize realities on the ground, particularly with issues like the so-called right of return, this idea that suddenly Israel is going to allow millions of Palestinians to demographically settle in Israel and then vote for the dissolution of the state.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Ben, what we’ve tried to do and what the President Trump tried to do in this process is to take history into account and the reality on the ground as it stands today into account.  And I think you just ticked through half a dozen ways in which this plan does that.  It shows incredible respect and dignity for the Palestinian people, too.  It simply asks them, whether that’s in the West Bank or in the Gaza Strip, to stop paying terrorists, stop inciting hatred, to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.  These are things that are fundamental, that are facts, that are unchanging, and delivers the possibility of a peaceful outcome.

There are – there’s no one under this plan that will be required to uproot.  No Israeli will be required to uproot; no Palestinian will be required to uproot.  These are just recognizing fundamental facts, and we think presents a basis upon which to build.

I know there’ll be people that will push back.  But what we’ve seen in the region so far to date is a lot of individuals who had an expectation for what they thought might be in the plan realizing that this vision for peace and for the region is one that is worthy of consideration.

QUESTION:  Well, this is one of the things about the peace plan that I find so interesting, is the fact that there are a bunch of Arab states that showed up, actually brought envoys to this event – obviously, Oman, the UAE – there were several different countries that actually showed up who never in the past would have shown up to anything remotely like —

SECRETARY POMPEO:  That’s right.  The Bahraini ambassador was there.  That’s correct, Ben.  Yep.

QUESTION:  Right, exactly.  And that signifies a change in mindset on the part of many of the Arab states that have been dedicated for decades to the proposition that the Jewish state was simply going to disappear, suddenly recognizing that that is never going to be a reality.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  This has been something that I’ve worked on, the President’s worked on, that Jared Kushner has worked on, for three years now, trying to make clear that – just the ordinary nature of what needed to take place in the region, that the threat was from the Islamic Republic of Iran, that there were shared interests between Israel and many of the Arab states, and that there was a path forward for those states to live in peace and harmony in the region.

QUESTION:  Now, meanwhile – quick note – the final question for you, the Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas has already said that he’s rejecting the plan.  That, of course, is not a surprise, since the Palestinian leadership has rejected literally every peace plan ever presented to them, including incredibly generous offers in both 2000 and 2008.  So what exactly is the future of the plan if the Palestinians don’t decide to accept the plan and move forward with negotiations?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  In the end, the Palestinian people are going to have to make a decision about whether they want to continue to difficult challenges they face today with the absence of prosperity, the terrorism that exists, and the corruption that has existed in the region for a long time, or if they want to turn the page and deliver an outcome for themselves and for their children and their grandchildren that’s better, a brighter future.

That opportunity is now on the table.  They don’t have to do it today or tomorrow, but I am confident that as they stare at this, as the Palestinian people stare at what the opportunity is, a plan that might put as much as $50 billion into their places of living, a million new jobs created – when they stare at those opportunities, I am convinced that the Palestinian people will, over the coming weeks and months – and we’ve given them four years – will see that this is a better option for them.  I’m hopeful that they will.  I pray that they’ll make that choice.

QUESTION:  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, I know that you’re on a short time schedule.  I really appreciate your hard work on this.  Thanks so much for your time.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Ben, thank you so much, sir.  Have a great day.