Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, attracted unusually intense media attention the other day when he paid a visit to an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. And Psagot, near Ramallah, was not just an ordinary outpost, but home to a highly successful winery.

 In dropping in on Psagot (by Israeli military helicopter), Pompeo was widely seen as continuing the controversial policies of his boss, President Donald Trump, whose four years in the White House have served the interests of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, contributed to the marginalization of the Palestinians and accelerated the decline of a two-state solution.

 Trump reversed years of US policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, its annexation of the Golan Heights, by closing the Palestinian mission in Washington, and cutting off aid to UNRWA.  His “deal of the century” approved Israel’s annexation of up to a third of the West Bank and paved the way for the Abraham Accords, which “normalized” relations with the UAE and Bahrain.

 Pompeo’s was the first ever visit by a senior US official to an Israeli settlement, which are considered illegal under international law. Under Trump, that position has been undermined by the most powerful country on earth. The Psagot trip underlined just how difficult it will be for Joe Biden to repair the damage that his predecessor has done. It was widely described as symbolic or a “victory lap”.

 Pompeo enjoyed tasting a red wine (a “refreshing” blend of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and merlot) flatteringly named after him – a compliment after his statement last year that Israeli settlements were "not, per se, inconsistent with international law". Most countries still believe that they are.

 But the very fact of his visit was the main point, and one clearly coordinated with the Twitterer-in-chief in the Oval Office to emphasize how much he has done for Binyamin Netanyahu. The dovish Peace Now organization called the trip “a last pathetic attempt to undermine the prospects for peace by normalizing the settlements.”

 After meeting Netanyahu Pompeo also announced that the State Department would declare as anti-Semitic the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which campaigns for a global boycott of Israel over its policies towards the Palestinians. This move followed a longstanding Israeli government campaign to discredit BDS as fundamentally anti-Jewish. (BDS supporters insist they are protesting against Israeli policy, including the expanding presence of West Bank settlements, and seek to draw a distinction between being anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish.)

 On the same theme Pompeo declared that the US would publish new guidelines for labelling settlement products as "Made in Israel" rather than "Made in the West Bank" – in contradiction to the direction the European Union has taken in recent years. The new State Department guidelines "ensure that country of origin markings for Israeli and Palestinian goods are consistent with our reality-based foreign policy approach," an official statement said.

 Pompeo later flew north to the Golan Heights – also becoming the first US secretary of state to do so. That area was captured from Syria in 1967 and later annexed by Israel in a move not recognised by the UN and most of the international community. Trump also served Netanyahu’s interests by recognising that annexation in 2019. The secretary of state condemned what he disparagingly described as calls "in the salons in Europe and in the elite institutions in America" for Israel to return the Golan to Syria.

 Netanyahu’s government is clearly encouraged by Trump’s persistent support – even if he is now considered a “lame-duck” president. It recently announced plans to build more than a thousand new homes in Givat Hamatos, a settlement between Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

 Palestinians understandably applauded Biden’s victory, but they are not convinced that he will significantly help their cause. The Democratic president-elect is expected to reverse Pompeo's declaration on settlements, but he has said he will not undo Trump's decision in 2017 to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

 And pressure is already mounting on the Palestinian Authority to improve relations with the next US administration. Having suspended security and civilian coordination with Israel last May, President Mahmoud Abbas restored it shortly before Pompeo’s trip. PA officials have also let it be known that they are re-considering financial support to the families of prisoners held by Israel – dubbed by Israeli critics as “pay to slay.”

 Personal ambition may well be another relevant factor: Pompeo is considering standing himself for the US presidency in 2024. During last week’s trip to Israel, he also visited the site of Jesus' baptism – a stop that was clearly designed to appeal to the Republicans' Christian evangelical supporters. A "Mike Pompeo 2024" T-shirt is already being sold on Amazon.

 The world, along with many Americans, may well be celebrating the fact that Trump is finally on the way out and being replaced by Biden. But given the many challenges the Democrat is facing he is unlikely to prioritize the Middle East. And Trumpism – and the disruptive effect it has had on some of the globe’s most intractable conflicts – is not going to disappear any time soon.

IAN BLACK