Mike Huckabee defended President Trump’s Middle East policies including the plan to turn Gaza into a U.S.-run luxe real estate development in a contentious Senate confirmation hearing for his nomination as ambassador to Israel.
While giving strong backing to Trump and his Gaza redevelopment plan, Huckabee sought to distance himself from his own previous stance that Israel should annex the occupied West Bank, a position that is controversial among Israelis themselves.
“I am not here to articulate or defend my own views or policies,” Huckabee said in his opening statement. “If confirmed, it will be my responsibility to carry out the president’s priorities, not mine.”
On Gaza, Huckabee claimed Trump’s plan would not include “forced displacement” of the 2 million Palestinians in the coastal enclave “unless it is for their safety,” and said Palestinians could be incentivized to leave their homeland voluntarily.
The Palestinians themselves and America’s Arab allies have flatly rejected the Trump plan, and the president himself hasn’t mentioned it recently.
Trump has vowed to swiftly end the now 17-month war in Gaza and bring home the hostages held by Hamas.
But after a brief ceasefire, Israel resumed its attacks last week with a surprise wave of deadly airstrikes. U.S. and Arab mediators are now struggling to get a ceasefire deal back on track and win freedom for more of the captives, including one American.
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and one-time Republican presidential hopeful, also cast doubt on the widely held goal of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which would require creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
“A two-state solution, everyone living together, sitting around the campfire, toasting marshmallows and singing ‘kumbaya,’ (will not happen) if one of the sides doesn’t believe the other one has a right to exist,” Huckabee said, apparently suggesting the Palestinians don’t want peace.
Huckabee repeatedly used evangelical Christian language at the hearing to explain his strong support for Israel and its right-wing government.
“We ultimately are people of the book,” Huckabee said. “We believe the Bible, and therefore that connection is not geopolitical, it is also spiritual,” he said.
Even before his hearing, some liberal Democrats made no secret of their opposition to Huckabee’s nomination.
“Huckabee’s positions … are the words of a provocateur whose views are far outside international consensus and contrary to the core bipartisan principles of American diplomacy,” Manhattan Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-New York) said.
