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Huckabee hearing: Will a Christian Zionist ambassador benefit US-Israel relations?

Former Arkansas governor is challenged on his biblical beliefs ahead of his new role: “Our connection to Israel is spiritual.”

Driven by his Christian faith, former Arkansas governor and US presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is a frequent visitor to Israel. Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
Driven by his Christian faith, former Arkansas governor and US presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is a frequent visitor to Israel. Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on becoming the next US ambassador to Israel was everything it was billed to be. Republicans warmly embraced the former church pastor and presidential candidate, while Democrats challenged his Bible-based views regarding the Jewish state.

Huckabee, who was interrupted a number of times by shrieking anti-Israel protesters, stressed that his personal views and beliefs were beside the point, and that what mattered was his willingness and ability to dutifully represent the president and the American people as their envoy to Israel.

Even so, Huckabee’s personal faith is the driving force in his life, so it will without doubt influence how he executes his role. And for many, that’s what makes him the perfect choice to be US ambassador to Israel, which a large percentage, if not a majority of Americans support largely due to their faith.

The Democrats’ challenges to Huckabee’s nomination focused on two things:

  1. His opposition to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian Arab state on the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria;
  2. His personal belief that the Jews are God’s chosen people and the modern State of Israel a fulfillment of Bible prophecy, and whether or not that will color the way he represents the United States.

It should be noted that Huckabee’s confirmation is all but a given since the Republicans enjoy a majority on the committee.

 

Palestinian state

When pressed on his past remarks opposing the creation of a Palestinian state, Huckabee told senators that his own views notwithstanding, “If confirmed, it will be my responsibility to carry out the president’s priorities, not mine.”

That shouldn’t present Huckabee with any moral conflict given that President Donald Trump doesn’t view Palestinian statehood as a priority, and has even signaled willingness to consider Israeli annexation of at least parts of Judea and Samaria. Already in his first presidential term, Trump made it clear the Palestinians would not be getting all that they demand when he recognized Israeli sovereignty over the entirety of Jerusalem.

As ambassador, Huckabee will certainly have the president’s ear and thus play the role of a senior adviser when it comes to foreign policy related to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. So, Huckabee’s personal views on the topic are relevant, and he sees a Palestinian state under the current circumstances as a danger to Israel and regional stability.

“The two-state solution — the notion that everyone’s going to live together, toasting marshmallows around the campfire, singing Kumbaya, and [that] it’s going to happen in our lifetime — is not going to happen if one of the sides doesn’t believe the other one has a right to exist,” he said.

 

Annexing Judea and Samaria

Huckabee is on record as supporting Israeli annexation of Judea and Samaria, and Democrats were keen to know if he would advance that position as ambassador.

Huckabee acknowledged his support for Israeli sovereignty in those biblical lands, but again pointed out that as ambassador “it’ll be my duty to carry out the president’s policies — not mine… An ambassador doesn’t create the policy. He carries out the policy of his country and his president.”

Huckabee is far from the only member of the Trump administration sees Israel’s control of the so-called “West Bank” as a divine mandate. Trump’s nominee for US ambassador to the United Nations, Elise Stefanik, said during her confirmation hearing that Israel has a “biblical right” to those lands.

 

Christian Zionism

What of his religious beliefs? Like many Americans, Huckabee sees America and Israel as being founded on shared Judeo-Christian (read: biblical) values. But his support for the Jewish state goes deeper.

“We ultimately are People of the Book. We believe the Bible, and therefore, that connection [with israel] is not just geopolitical — it is also spiritual,” he told the senators. “And to ignore that, to deny that, would make it very difficult for us to ever understand how to go forward in a relationship with [israel].”

As a Christian, Huckabee sees it as a duty for himself and his “Christian” nation to support Israel, especially in the midst of the current crisis.

“It’s going to be a privilege to be one of those people — not Jewish, but Christian — who will say to our Jewish friends, ‘You will never go through what you’ve gone through alone. We will not stand behind you. We will stand with you,” underscored Huckabee.

 

Achievements of biblical proportions

Huckabee emphasized that a Trump presidency presents unprecedented opportunities for the Middle East. He highlighted the fact that everyone warned against moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing the city as Israel’s capital, but Trump did it anyway and there was no explosion. Quite to the contrary, that move helped facilitate the Abraham Accords by breaking the long-held position that peace between Israel and the Arab world would be possible only after Palestinian demands were satisfied.

“It’s possible that this president could achieve something in the Middle East… [of] biblical proportion,” said Huckabee. “It would be astonishing and incredible to see former enemies, enemies who have fought wars in 1948, 1967, 1973 and on, to become partners in peace. It’s not easy. It’s not going to necessarily be quick, but… this president is committed to [this goal].”

In response to questions by Republican senators, Huckabee promised that he would work to advance the Abraham Accords.

See related: Showing – the Fatal Flaw in the Abraham Accords

In short, Republican senators see Huckabee as a perfect pick for US ambassador to Israel given his familiarity with the country (he’s visited dozens of times over 50 years) and his deep understanding of the religious nature of the conflict, which is often sidestepped, if not outright ignored by the West. Democrats see Huckabee as a religious extremist who will promote a “messianic” foreign policy agenda.

And what do people here think? To say Mike Huckabee is beloved in Israel would be an understatement.

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Patrick Callahan

This is an example of author bio/description. Beard fashion axe trust fund, post-ironic listicle scenester. Uniquely mesh maintainable users rather than plug-and-play testing procedures.

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