, Columnist
Pence, the Anti-Trump, Takes Israel by Storm
The vice president parried the leaders of Egypt and Jordan, wowed the Knesset, and gave the Palestinians much to think about.
He couldn't have gone there under Obama.
Photographer: Lior Mizrahi/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
At the start of Mike Pence’s four-day diplomatic mission to the Middle East, a cynical Israeli diplomat called it “a Seinfeld visit, a visit about nothing.”
The cynic was mistaken. The trip was useful, maybe even important. It revealed a good deal about the standing of the U.S. in the Arab Middle East. It set into motion a significant Palestinian move on the diplomatic chess board. And it presented Mike Pence, a man usually seen in President Donald Trump’s shadow, on a stage of his own.