Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday refused to reaffirm US support for a Palestinian state after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu pledged to annex West Bank settlements.

Testifying before a Senate subcommittee just as Israel wrapped up tight elections, Pompeo declined to respond when Democrats asked him to back a two-state solution.

After @SecPompeo refused to affirm support for a two-state solution, @ChrisVanHollen asked would the secretary support Palestinians having “full and equal political and legal rights with other citizens of that state?”

Pompeo dodged that question, too. https://t.co/kW74dlObAr

— Jamil Dakwar (@jdakwar) April 10, 2019

Pompeo replied:

“Ultimately the Israelis and Palestinians will decide how to resolve this.”

Pompeo said that President Donald Trump’s aides Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt would soon lay out a proposal “to resolve a problem that’s been going on for decades and decades that previous administrations couldn’t solve.”

In a first for a US administration, @SecPompeo refused to discourage Israeli annexation of the West Bank. Two-state solution is fading fast. Would Trump approve annexation? https://t.co/4eXXZi0oIJ

— Edward Wong (@ewong) April 9, 2019

Pompeo said:

“We’re hopeful that we have some ideas that are different, unique, which will allow the Israelis and the Palestinian people to come to a resolution of the conflict.”

Kushner, who is also Trump’s son-in-law, has close family ties to Netanyahu, who was locked in a tight race to remain prime minister against centrist former military chief Benny Gantz.

Days before the election, Netanyahu broke precedent by saying that he would annex at least parts of the occupied West Bank.

Trump has strongly supported Netanyahu and taken a series of major actions long sought by Israel, including recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.

(Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, PC, Social Media)