US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised Israel on Wednesday for sharing information during global efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and took another swipe at China over what he said was its lack of transparency.
“YOU’RE A GREAT PARTNER”
Arriving in Israel on a one-day visit, Pompeo told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “You’re a great partner, you share information – unlike some other countries that try and obfuscate and hide that information – and we’ll talk about that country, too.”
Earlier, Pompeo repeated Washington’s charges against Beijing in an interview for the Israel Hayom newspaper.
“Here is what we know for sure. The virus originated in Wuhan, China. The Chinese Communist Party knew about this virus in December of 2019 (and) attempted to obfuscate this.
“They denied people the ability to talk, they didn’t share this information quickly enough, they created enormous risk for the world,” he said.
The United States has previously cautioned Israel against potential security threats from Chinese investment in Israel, prompting the Netanyahu government to set up a committee last October to vet such projects.