JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to hold talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels on Monday, a day after police recommended the premier’s indictment in a third graft case.
Netanyahu’s office said the meeting had been set last week, but provided few other details.
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat was to be in Brussels for a NATO meeting of foreign ministers on Tuesday.
“I will discuss with Mike Pompeo a series of regional developments as well as the steps we are taking together to block the aggression of Iran and its proxies in the north,” Netanyahu said before departing, referring to Syria and Lebanon.
“Of course we will also discuss other issues.”
They were to meet on Monday evening, with Netanyahu accompanied by the head of Israeli spy agency Mossad, the head of his national security council and his military secretary.
Trump has pledged unwavering support for Israel and has pushed ahead with controversial policies such as moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem.
Israel and the US have also worked closely on a range of issues, particularly related to Iran.
Both have warned of Iran’s presence in Syria, which neighbors Israel.
Netanyahu has pledged to stop arch-foe Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria and to keep it from transferring advanced weapons to its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.
There has been increased attention in Israel in recent days over Israeli officials’ concerns regarding Iranian activity in Lebanon.
The Israeli premier has also pursued ties with Arab Gulf nations that have no official diplomatic relations with his country and the US has backed him in those efforts.
Netanyahu’s trip comes a day after police recommended indicting him and his wife Sara for bribery and other offenses, the third such move against him in recent months.
The attorney general must now decide whether to indict Netanyahu, who rejects the accusations against him in all three cases.
Netanyahu to meet US secretary of state in Brussels
Netanyahu to meet US secretary of state in Brussels
- Trump has pledged unwavering support for Israel and has pushed ahead with controversial policies such as moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem
Israel police to deploy around Al-Aqsa for Ramadan, Palestinians report curbs
- The Al-Aqsa compound is a central symbol of Palestinian identity and also a frequent flashpoint
JERUSALEM: Israeli police said Monday that they would deploy in force around the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week, as Palestinian officials accused Israel of imposing restrictions at the compound.
Over the course of the month of fasting and prayer, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians traditionally attend prayers at Al-Aqsa — Islam’s third-holiest site, located in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed.
Arad Braverman, a senior Jerusalem police officer, said forces would be deployed “day and night” across the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, and in the surrounding area.
He said thousands of police would also be on duty for Friday prayers, which draw the largest crowds of Muslim worshippers.
Braverman said police had recommended issuing 10,000 permits for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, who require special permission to enter Jerusalem.
He did not say whether age limits would apply, adding that the final number of people would be decided by the government.
The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said in a separate statement it had been informed that permits would again be restricted to men over 55 and women over 50, mirroring last year’s criteria.
It said Israeli authorities had blocked the Islamic Waqf — the Jordanian?run body administering the site — from carrying out routine preparations, including installing shade structures and setting up temporary medical clinics.
A Waqf source confirmed the restrictions and said 33 of its employees had been barred from entering the compound in the week before Ramadan.
The Al-Aqsa compound is a central symbol of Palestinian identity and also a frequent flashpoint.
Under long?standing arrangements, Jews may visit the compound — which they revere as the site of their second temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD — but they are not permitted to pray there.
Israel says it is committed to maintaining this status quo, though Palestinians fear it is being eroded.
Braverman reiterated Monday that no changes were planned.
In recent years, a growing number of Jewish ultranationalists have challenged the prayer ban, including far?right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who prayed at the site while serving as national security minister in 2024 and 2025.
