(JTA) — Mike Huckabee, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel, told senators that while he personally supports Israel annexing the West Bank, he wouldn’t be directing the president’s policy in the region.
He also said Trump — who has called for the United States to “take over” Gaza — does not support forcibly displacing Palestinians from that territory. And he spoke of how his support for Israel is rooted in Christianity.
Huckabee is a former Arkansas governor and self-identified staunch Christian Zionist. He has drawn opposition from liberal Jewish groups and others who are wary of Christian nationalism and disagree with his opposition to Palestinian statehood and view that Israel holds “title deed” to the West Bank.
A number of progressive protesters, including Jews from the progressive group IfNotNow, chanted “Jews say no” and “Free Palestine” at the beginning of the hearing before being ejected.
Multiple Democratic senators asked how his views would influence his work as ambassador. He said his job would be to represent Trump’s policies.
“If confirmed it will be my duty to carry out the president’s policies, not mine,” he said in response to a question on annexation from Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley. “One of the things that I will recognize — an ambassador doesn’t create the policy, he carries the policy of his country and the president.”
Huckabee did affirm that he “previously supported” Israel annexing the West Bank. He said that while he opposed Israel stealing land owned by Palestinians and expelling them, he declined to enumerate what rights Palestinians might have if Israel formally annexes the territory.
“If we’re talking about stealing the land, taking it away from them, that’s a problem,” he said. “If you’re talking about purchasing the land, that’s a legitimate transaction.”
He added, in response to a question about what rights Palestinians would be afforded, that he believes Palestinians already have freedom. He cast doubt on the idea that a Palestinian state could be established alongside Israel soon.
“There would be security, there would be opportunity,” Huckabee said. “If you mean would they be able to live freely, they already do.”
Much of the world considers the West Bank to be occupied by Israel, which directly controls most of its land. The Palestinian Authority governs Palestinian population centers, but has not held an election in nearly two decades. Israel does not permit West Bank Palestinians to vote in its elections, and they do not have full freedom of movement.
When asked by Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, about his stance on Trump’s plans to displace Gaza’s entire population, Huckabee said the president would not force anyone to leave. (Trump has been unclear on that point across several remarks on the issue.)
“The president has never said that he would force displacement,” said Huckabee. “That has not been his statements nor his policy, but rather to make sure that there is a safe and secure place for people to live during the process of cleaning out what is a disastrous mess.”
When Merkley asked Huckabee if he was comfortable with Palestinians being moved out of Gaza, he suggested he could be.
“They shouldn’t be forced [in]to displacement, unless for their own security,” said Huckabee, adding soon afterward, “I didn’t say they could be forced, and the President has never said that.”
He said Trump’s plan was “providing for them to find safe haven away from unexploded ordnance.”
Huckabee has also faced skepticism from Jewish groups that oppose Christian nationalism. Huckabee did not shy away from his Christian Zionism at the hearing, and articulated how his religious values inform his support of Israel.
He said the relationship between many American churches and synagogues and Israel is based in the Bible and “is not geopolitical, it is also spiritual.” He said absent that spiritual basis, a relationship with Israel would be difficult.
“Israel in many ways is a reflection of our own heritage and history,” he said at one point. “It is the Judeo-Christian law that there is a right and that there is a wrong upon which all of Western Civilization is built — but certainly our system of government.”
He added, “There is no country across the globe that more mirrors our own struggle and our own level of democracy then does the state of Israel, and it’s one of the reasons that it is a natural ally.”
The session was a joint confirmation hearing in which Trump’s ambassador-designate to Panama, Marino Cabrera, also answered questions. Also questioned was Reed Rubinstein, a Jewish lawyer nominated to be the State Department’s legal adviser.
