Pompeo Emphasizes Continued US-Israel Cooperation to Counter Iran

On Tuesday, January 1, Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, stated in Brazil that the cooperation between the United States and Israel in Syria and in countering Iran will continue. According to Reuters, in his first reaction to Donald Trump's decision to withdraw US troops from Syria, Pompeo said, "There has been no change in the cooperation between the US government and Israel." The US Secretary of State emphasized that the battle against ISIS is ongoing, the confrontation with Iranian aggression continues, and our commitment to creating stability in the Middle East and protecting Israel's security remains unchanged as it was before the decision to withdraw from Syria. Pompeo also expressed his satisfaction on Twitter regarding his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu in Brazil, stating: I reaffirmed the commitment of the Trump administration and the American people to ensure Israel's security. The United States fully supports Israel's right to defend itself. The US-Israel alliance is strong. Pompeo and Netanyahu are in Brazil to attend the inauguration ceremony of Jair Bolsonaro, the new President of Brazil. In this context, Robert Palladino, Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department, announced in a statement that Pompeo and Netanyahu discussed the unacceptable threat of Iranian aggression and provocations against regional security and Israel. The Deputy Spokesperson added that Pompeo again reaffirmed the United States' commitment to Israel's security and its unconditional right to defend itself. Earlier in December, Trump unexpectedly announced on his Twitter account that 2,000 US troops would be withdrawn from Syria. The US President stated that the Islamic State (ISIS) has been defeated and that US troops would "gradually" return to the United States to be with their families. The announcement of the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, which coincided with the critical resignation of James Mattis, the Secretary of Defense, drew criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. Some of these American lawmakers expressed concern about a power vacuum in Syria after the withdrawal of US forces and the possibility of increased Iranian influence. After meeting with Mike Pompeo, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, stated: There are many issues that we need to discuss. Netanyahu emphasized that Israel and the United States will discuss enhancing intelligence and operational cooperation in Syria and other areas to stop Iranian aggression in the Middle East. In this context, Israeli media previously reported, citing a senior official from the Prime Minister's Office, that Netanyahu convinced Trump during a recent phone call to "slow down the process of withdrawing US troops from Syria," and Trump considered this request "positively."