Stephen Sokol: In need of a statesman

I was fascinated to read over the weekend that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has suggested that Donald Trump is the Messiah and may have been sent by God to save the Jews.

From what I can understand, Trump has only made it more difficult to ease the tension in the region by first moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and also by proclaiming that Israel should retain the Golan Heights.

Peace will only come with a two-state solution that gives the Palestinians sovereignty over their own territory. Both sides must compromise. The Palestinians must recognize that Israel has a right to exist; and Israel must return all of the occupied territory so that the Palestinians have a viable state.

After 70 years of conflict and destruction, that is a daunting task and will require a statesman such as Maine’s own George Mitchell, not someone whose ego blots out reality.

Stephen Sokol, Lewiston