WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's second administration will not have “mixed messages” toward Israel, the president-elect's choice to be the U.S. ambassador to the Jewish state told the Post.
“The biggest challenge is that the messages that our country has given to Israel are often very mixed,” said former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who Trump selected in November to be his special envoy to Israel. He spoke in his first solo interview since the announcement. 12.
“I'm very grateful that President Biden has often said, 'We stand with Israel,' 'They are our allies,' and 'We are resolute,'” the 69-year-old said. added. . “But then we will hear in a day or so that we are going to withhold arms sales to Israel unless Israel prosecutes the Gaza war the way we think it should be prosecuted.
“Well, those two things are very different and can't be the same. So what I really have confidence in President Trump is consistent policies, consistent messages, and consistent actions that go along with it. That means there is.”
Frankly speaking
Huckabee is the only remaining hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, more than 13 months after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed an estimated 1,200 people, including dozens of Americans. He added that he believed he would secure the return of the 101 people.
“We should have mobilized the full strength of the U.S. military to publicly demand the release of all hostages, especially the four Americans who were still being held. Huckabee told the Post, calling the stalemate “particularly frustrating to watch.”
“[It] Given Trump's election, I wouldn't be surprised if there were some developments,” the ambassador-elect added, “because they know Trump is not playing around.”
Huckabee is a longtime supporter of Israel, has visited the Jewish state dozens of times and has spoken out against the so-called “two-state solution,” and once said during the 2008 presidential campaign that there is no such thing as “Palestinians.” It doesn't exist… it's the Palestinians.” It was a political tool to force land away from Israel. ”
“They are fighting for their very survival,” Huckabee said of the Israelis this week. “So their fight is not to lower taxes, maybe to be a little more prosperous and get better vacations.
“They make sure that children actually survive childhood and don’t get bombed out of existence.”
This attitude is why President Trump's selection of Huckabee was welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters.
“If you look at the appointments that President Trump is making, there are people who are very connected to Israel, who are very supportive, who have a clear understanding of the good guys and the bad guys, and who understand Israel's national security needs. “There are,” retired Israeli Defense Force Brigadier General Amir Avivi told the Post on Wednesday. “In that sense, I’m very, very optimistic.
“When I saw that he had appointed [Huckabee] “I think being installed as ambassador to Israel will send a very strong message about what kind of relationship this administration will have with Israel, and it will be a very close relationship,” he said. added.
bible passion
Mr. Huckabee's passion for Israel stems from his own long-standing love of the Holy Land, most recently when he led a tour group to the region this spring.
Although Mr. Huckabee left the Baptist pulpit decades ago, his faith remains the foundation of his policies. In explaining his views on a single-state solution, he told the Post that true peace in the Middle East would come if Israel was allowed to “defend the land that God gave us 3,500 years ago.” He said it can only be achieved.
“They didn't ask for more, but they didn't ask for less. They have a right to expect that.”
One of the great ironies of the 2024 election is that after pro-Palestinian activists cornered Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the campaign trail, voters elected a president with Jewish grandchildren and the most ardent supporter of Israeli sovereignty. The president chose one of them as his representative. The administration there.
To illustrate Israel's volatile situation, Huckabee told the Post that he often takes tourists to Arab-run shops to look at maps of the region.
“I pick up a map and give it to them and say, 'Please tell me where Israel is on the map.'” And they look and say, “It's not here.” Why? 'He says: “I say, 'Because they don't believe it exists.'”
“It’s hard to have that.” [two-state] Here's a solution if your neighbors think you shouldn't live there. Not only do they not like you to live there, they think you have no right to live there. That's a big deal. And that's what they're up against. ”
Response to Iran
Upon becoming ambassador, Huckabee said he was “very excited about the prospect” of expanding the Abraham Accords, calling it “a test of President Trump's first term.”
The agreements, brokered by the United States in 2020 and 2021 between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, and Sudan, established peace between the two countries, including formal recognition of Israel by Arab states.
To continue this progress, Huckabee said he aims to build “more alliances with additional Gulf states and more Arab partners in the Middle East.”
“With more and more Middle Eastern countries recognizing that Israel is not a threat to them, there is no reason why this cannot proceed,” he said. “The only real threat is the Iranian government, and it is the only one that is determined to destroy not only Israel but even its Arab neighbors.”
Mr. Huckabee's diplomatic work aims to further promote acceptance of Israel in the region and, in doing so, erase tolerance for Iran in the region.
“We need a universal willingness on the part of all civilized nations to truly stand up against nothing but evil,” he said. “The massacre of civilians on October 7th was just a horrifying reminder of the lengths some people will go to to make their point, and it is not the act of civilized people. there is no.
“So I think that the Abraham Accords, which was an extraordinary historical moment, has the potential to expand and create greater avenues for commerce, trade and tourism, all of which will ultimately bring peace. ” he said.
Huckabee warns that Iran's ambitions extend beyond Israel to overthrowing the United States.
“If someone puts a gun to your head and says they’re going to shoot you, you might want to believe them. What they’ve said consistently throughout history is that Israel is small. It's the devil and America is the devil, 'Great Satan,' he said. “First they want to eliminate Little Satan, and then their target is Big Satan.
“Don't be so naive as to think that even if Iran were able to overrun Israel (wipe it out or conquer it in some way), they would say, 'Okay, that's it.' “That's all we wanted. Here's the finish line.” It’s just the first one,” he added.
Meanwhile, Huckabee said the United States has more to gain from an alliance with Israel, whose defense industry developed Iron Dome, one of the world's most effective air defense systems.
Huckabee argued that an American adaptation of Iron Dome could similarly protect America from foreign attack.
“No one has done it as effectively as they have,” he says. “Certainly their country is smaller than the entire United States, about the size of New Jersey, but what they've done is scalable. What they've been able to create is an entire country, actually The Iron Dome extends to the entire width of the country.
“We certainly have the ability to do that because we know where our resources and strategic goals are.”
