U.S. 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.
Wearing U.S.-flag face mask, Pompeo visits Israel
"You are a great partner, you share information - unlike some countries that obfuscate and hide that information," the top U.S. diplomat told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised joint statement before they met privately.
Netanyahu described the coronavirus as a "plague", and added: "There is something else plaguing our region, which is unremitting Iranian terror and aggression." Pompeo responded by playing up the Trump administration's decisions to quit the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and press sanctions against it, saying: "The campaign that we have been part of to reduce the resources that Ayatollah has ... has borne fruit, has been successful."