US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks next to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Defense Secretary Mark Esper, during a news conference, at the State Department, in Washington, DC, Sept. 21, 2020. Photo: Patrick Semansky / Pool via Reuters.

i24 News – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US will be branding goods made in Israeli settlements in the West Bank as “Made in Israel” on Thursday.

“All producers within areas where Israel exercises the relevant authorities …  will be required to mark goods as ‘Israel,’ ’Product of Israel,’ or ‘Made in Israel’ when exporting to the United States,” Pompeo said in a statement.

The statement came as Pompeo became the first head of the US State Department to visit the Israeli West Bank settlements.

The top US diplomat toured the Psagot Winery, in the vicinity of the Psagot settlement, in the Sha’ar Binyamin industrial area near Jerusalem.

The winery has a blend named in Pompeo’s honor, reportedly launched in celebration of Pompeo’s declaration that the US would no longer see all Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal, made in 2019.

The area reportedly saw Palestinian protests staged ahead of the visit, with Palestinians condemning Pompeo’s West Bank tour.

Later in the day, the top US diplomat is also set to visit the Golan Heights, with the US last year officially recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the strategic area taken during the Six-Day War in 1967.

Pompeo arrived in Israel on Wednesday as part of a seven-nation trip. In the Jewish state, he also met with Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani.

On Thursday, he announced that the US would designate the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement as antisemitic and work to cut US funds for groups found to be supporting it.