Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Trump’s second-term nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel is former Arkansas Governor, Rev. Mike Huckabee. He is an Evangelical Zionist, who has repeatedly claimed that there are no Palestinians, and brutally dismissed the right of the Palestinian people to their own land. A former US ambassador, Luis Moreno said of Huckabee, “I unfortunately was exposed to him during his visits to Israel back in the day. Full blown (and knowledgeable) fanatic of the End of Times, Apocalypse, Israel’s destruction, etc. A true and utter nut case. Couldn’t be a more dangerous selection.”
Even the venerable US Jewish daily, The Forward argues that Huckabee’s appointment spells doom for any chance of peace. Ironically, his supposed “love” for Israel is based on a belief that Israeli colonization of historic Palestine will bring about the Second Coming of Christ, at which point the world’s Jews (all of us) will either have to convert to Christianity or be consigned to eternal damnation.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) characterizes the prospect of Huckabee taking this post as “a disaster of Biblical proportions.” As a governor prosecuting an Evangelical agenda, he had public conflicts with various progressive advocacy groups including the FFRF itself. He once used them as fundraising fodder, arguing, that he was fearful of organization because of its numerous court victories in First Amendment cases. At the time, his campaign appeal said, “In just the last few years, they’ve won terrible victories that strike at the heart of our values.” FFRF summarized his record saying, “Huckabee has explicitly refused to acknowledge Palestinians’ right to exist. Huckabee is a staunch supporter of Israel because of the Old Testament’s assurance that the Hebrews are God’s chosen people and, therefore, Israel is their rightful homeland.”
When he governed Arkansas, Huckabee’s tenure was characterized by ethics complaints, regressive taxes, squishy approaches to immigration, and habitually playing fast and loose with facts. The State Ethics Commission “held proceedings 20 times on the former governor and lieutenant governor.” In accordance with the Trump playbook, Huckabee dismissed the Commission as “a political tool of Democrats.” He shares the MAGA mindset that the law does not apply to them, and any effort to hold them accountable is to be ridiculed as deep state political persecution. The Commission found five major violations within their 16 investigations. One was that he used campaign funds to pay for a “gospel fest” in 2002, in effort to wrap his campaign in phony spirituality. He also accepted 187 gifts valued at $150,000 or more, but didn’t have to report their value. In retaliation for the Ethics Commission, Huckabee created his own “truth squad” to spin the issues in his favor with fictions.
Other choice events from Huckabee’s tenure as governor include calling former Senator Dale Bumpers a “pornographer” for supporting the National Endowment for the Arts, and responding to the Sandy Hook shooting by saying the same day, “we have systematically removed God from our schools” and shouldn’t be surprised they’ve become a place of carnage.” Resistance to thoughtful gun control or background checks is part of the Republican Party orthodoxy.
“Apocalypse,” Digital, Dream / Dreamland v3, 2024
An eloquent assessment was offered by a Palestinian-American student leader at one of Arkansas’ state universities, who is familiar with Huckabee’s record as Arkansas Governor, and the dynamics of Israeli-Palestinian history. This individual requested anonymity to protect her family in Palestine, and academic career in the US. She told this reporter, “It’s very important to remember Trump won about 80 percent of white Evangelical Christian vote this year, so it’s not surprising that he would choose Mike Huckabee . . . Huckabee would be the first Evangelical Christian to be US ambassador to Israel.”
The student activist added, “He is an unreformed, unapologetic Evangelical Zionist who refuses to acknowledge Palestinians, and believes there is no such thing as occupation, no such thing as the West Bank, and no such thing as settlements.” She questioned whether he was capable of promoting U.S. interests or commitments to international law.” She saw the appointment as a signal of Trump’s own position on the Mideast and maintained that persons with Huckabee’s extreme views – regardless of their religious heritage — “will continue to dehumanize Palestinians and try to justify it through religion; while simultaneously contradicting some of their most fundamental ideologies and domestic policies, such as every life having worth and value.”.
Little Rock Peace for Palestine issued a news release saying, “We know personally as Arkansans that Huckabee’s appointment will further fuel divisive policies that harm both Palestinians and Israelis, self-determination, right to return, or any equality under the law.” They added, “Any effort towards a peace process between the Israeli and Palestinian people will be nearly impossible under a Trump presidency and Huckabee appointment.” They also condemned his unstinting support of the expanding illegal settlements in the West Bank, in violation of international law under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
This End of Times zealot is poised to bring the end of times to both Palestine and Israel. But was anything else expected from Trump, whose every nomination for cabinet posts and agency directors is positioned to destroy rather than steward the effectiveness and functions of those offices? Huckabee has voiced opposition to the idea of a negotiated ceasefire between the Israeli military and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, even as the conflict has expanded into a regional war. We can only hope the Senate committee will recognize how deeply unqualified and potentially destructive his appointment would be, and reject the nomination.
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