A meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss the withdrawal of American troops from Syria was very successful, a senior Israeli diplomatic said Wednesday.
The official, who joined Netanyahu on his flight back to Israel from Brazil, said Pompeo had agreed to eight of the nine requests Netanyahu made in their meeting. He declined, however, to comment on the nature of the requests and refused to provide information as to which request was declined by the secretary of state.
Ahead of their meeting, Pompeo said the U.S. exit from Syria would not harm Israel's security and vowed cooperation between Washington and Jerusalem would continue. Netanyahu's goal is to ensure the U.S. withdrawal will result in increased collaboration between Jerusalem and Washington.
Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that Trump had decided the U.S. withdrawal from Syria would be gradual and be carried out over a four-month time period.
In another diplomatic achievement this week, Honduras has signaled it will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The decision to move the embassy was made at a joint meeting between Pompeo, Netanyahu and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who were all in Brazil to attend the Tuesday inauguration of President Jair Bolsonaro.
