Mike Huckabee – evangelical pastor, former governor of Arkansas and host of a Christian television show – is obsessed with the State of Israel. He went there for the first time in 1973, when he was 17, and since then, he has been there a hundred times. Additionally, Donald Trump’s pick as the next US ambassador to Israel rejects the two-state solution, denies the occupation, and even rejects the existence of Palestinian identity.
Huckabee’s radical positions regarding the Israeli occupation of Palestine have much to do with his religious fundamentalism. Huckabee believes that the Apocalypse is approaching, after which the Second Coming of Christ will occur in Israel to form a new kingdom on Earth. This end of the world is full of details “which are not pleasant, but the end result is very good”, declared Huckabee a few weeks ago on his television show. According to this controversial belief, the sovereign state of Israel is fundamental to the second coming of Jesus Christ.
“This vision includes a leading role for the State of Israel,” Daniel Hummel, American historian of religion, tells elDiario.es. “Probably the most relevant thing to do is to wait until a war is launched against Israel by its regional enemies that results in a miraculous deliverance and, when Jesus returns in His Second Coming, for the remaining Israelis/Jews to recognize Jesus as their messiah (converting them to Christianity). Huckabee has not said it openly, but this conviction is shared by the majority of evangelical Zionist Christians,” he adds. Huckabee describes himself as an “unapologetic and unrepentant Zionist.”
But this literal belief in end-times prophecy “is just one of many factors fueling Huckabee’s support for Israel,” Hummel says. “Two other relevant biblical theories include his belief that God granted the Jewish people the Holy Land as their eternal possession, meaning that a land-for-peace deal is contrary to God’s will. On the other hand, Huckabee also cites Genesis 12:3, where God said to Abraham “I will bless those who bless you” as the reason the United States supports Israel. These two reasons are probably more important in Huckabee’s mind than end-times views for his theological support of Israel. »
Hummel connects Huckabee to dispensationalism, “which means interpreting Bible prophecies literally – prophesying things that will happen in the underworld – and that these prophecies will be primarily fulfilled by the Jewish people/Israel.” “Most Christians—Catholics, Orthodox, and many other Protestants—believe that biblical prophecies have or will come true spiritually, not literally, and refer to the Church as a whole rather than to the Jewish people,” he explains.
Huckabee has been organizing religious trips to Israel for years, where he serves as a guide. “When I bring people and they’re not there yet, I tell them it’s the fulfillment of a prophecy. Ezekiel 37: Dry bones rise again. The desert is blooming before our eyes and the only explanation for the extraordinary economic and agrarian explosion of this land is that God has his hand in it,” the preacher and former governor said in an interview. “I’ve seen God take this country and do great things.”
“Unfortunately, I met him during his visits to Israel at the time. A complete (and well trained) fan of the end times, the apocalypse, the destruction of Israel, etc. A real madman. This could not be a more dangerous election,” commented Luis Moreno, American ambassador and diplomat stationed in Israel between 2007 and 2010, on the social network X.
“Occupation does not exist”
During his 2008 presidential campaign, Huckabee denied the existence of Palestinian identity. “Basically, and I have to be careful in saying this because people are very angry, Palestinians do not exist. There are Arabs and Persians, but they don’t exist. “It is a political tool to try to take territory from Israel. »
Trump’s chosen person to head the US embassy even wants to overturn the official US position in the conflict for decades. “The two-state solution, with two governments in the same space, is irrational and unworkable. If there is a two-state solution, the Palestinian state must be outside the borders of the nation of Israel,” he said in 2015. The two-state solution today is a pipe dream that does not exists only on paper and in the public statements of politicians. but Huckabee even wants to put an end to it.
“There are certain words I refuse to use,” he said during another of his trips in 2017. “The West Bank does not exist, it is Judea and Samaria. » [nombre bíblico de Cisjordania]; There are no colonies, they are communities, neighborhoods and cities; and there is no occupation. After being appointed by Trump, Huckabee He assured that he would continue to use this nomenclature unless you are told otherwise: “But I don’t think that will happen.” »
Contrary to his theological defense of Israel, the occupation does exist and has been declared illegal even by the International Court of Justice. However, the one who will eventually be the representative in Israel of the main world power does not base his policy on facts, but on biblical prophecies.
Huckabee also compared Palestinians to ISIS terrorists. “Abandoning part of the territory is not abandoning land in exchange for peace, but abandoning land and abandoning peace. Nothing good would come of it, but it would simply bring them closer to the people who have sworn to the destruction of Israel,” he said during another of his trips to the Holy Land. “I don’t think you would allow ISIS members to buy a house next to yours and move into your neighborhood. “People who say it would be a great idea to shrink the land of Israel have no idea what they are talking about. » Huckabee only envisions absolute victory for Israel. According to him, any peace agreement goes against God’s designs.
“Diplomatic schizophrenia”
The preacher said annexation of the West Bank during Trump’s term was a possibility, criticized the Biden administration for “putting far more pressure on Israel than on Hamas” and called its policies in the region ” schizophrenic.”
Huckabee also criticizes very limited American diplomatic efforts. “The reason why innocent people die [en Gaza] This is because Hamas continues to place its innocent civilians, if any remain, in front of its targets. And it’s ridiculous that the Biden administration is engaging in what is just diplomatic schizophrenia,” Huckabee said on Fox in December 2023.
“Evangelicals who support Israel are very organized and therefore their influence in the corridors of power in the United States is amplified,” says Hummel. “This organization is evident through prominent figures in strategic positions, such as Mike Pence as vice president and Mike Pompeo as secretary of state in the first Trump administration and now Huckabee as ambassador if this nomination is accepted.” The Senate, controlled by a Republican majority, must approve his appointment as ambassador
“Christians United for Israel is the largest U.S. lobbying group, and international organizations such as the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, both with significant U.S. support, are equally important,” explains the professor. “All of these groups maintain deep relationships with Israeli political leaders, particularly on the right, which further amplifies their influence. I believe that Evangelical Zionist Christians will have a significant influence on the Trump administration’s policy toward Israel and the Middle East in the new administration,” concludes Hummel.
