Kerry skips Israel during next week trip to Middle East
US Secretary of State John Kerry would not visit Israel next week as he is set to travel to the Middle East to talk about the conclusion of nuclear talks with Iran with regional countries.
It seems that the Obama administration is not seeking to pacify Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following his opposition to the July 14 agreement between Tehran and the world powers.
Tel Aviv has furiously opposed President Barack Obama’s efforts over the agreement.
Kerry will visit Egypt on Sunday and then Qatar before heading to East Asia, said US State Department spokesman John Kirby.
He said Israel “is just not part of the trip,” adding that Kerry “has been in touch with Prime Minister Netanyahu many times in the last several weeks.”
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Obama administration is preparing to release convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard to “smooth relations with Israel.”
However, the White House rejected the report and said it would not release the prisoner.
“There is absolutely zero linkage between Mr. Pollard’s status and foreign policy considerations,” National Security Council spokesperson Alistair Baskey said.
Pollard was convicted of passing classified information to Israel and he has been jailed since 1987.
A new poll also showed the majority of Americans oppose the provision of any special compensation to Israel for its concern over the nuclear agreement with Iran.
The poll by Google Consumer Surveys found that 67.8 percent of Americans oppose any sort of compensation to Israel, while only 12.8 percent support it.
Only 7.9 percent of respondents said they support increasing annual US aid to Israel from $3.5 billion to $5 billion.
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