Israel ambassador nominee Huckabee faces tough questions over personal beliefs at Senate hearing

Mike Huckabee, nominee for US ambassador to Israel, speaks before his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington. Getty Images / AFP

Mike Huckabee, President Donald Trump's nominee for US ambassador to Israel, on Tuesday skirted tough questions on his personal position on Palestinian rights, the annexation of the West Bank and mass displacement from Gaza during his Senate confirmation hearing.

His often repeated response was that it was not his own policies that would be implemented in the Middle East but those of the President. The former governor of Arkansas is an outspoken proponent of Israel and has been described as a Christian Zionist.

Asked whether he had previously supported Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Mr Huckabee confirmed he had, but said “it would not be my prerogative to make that the policy of the President”.

“I believe that there always has to be the law being followed and there has to be clarity,” he said, when questioned over whether Israeli settlers displacing Palestinians from their homes was wrong. “If we're talking about stealing the land, taking it away from them, their land, yeah, that's a problem. If you're talking about purchasing the land, that's a legitimate transaction.”

An armed Israeli settler argues with members of a Palestinian family whose home in the city of Hebron was taken over by settlers. AFP

Mr Huckabee was interrupted several times by protesters. During one disruption, a demonstrator blew a shofar – an ancient horn used for Jewish ritual purposes – and shouted, “I am a proud American Jew” and “let Palestinians live”. Later, a protester shouted that Mr Huckabee was misusing Christianity to justify ethnic cleansing, then another yelled that Israel and the US have “desecrated the holy land”.

Mr Huckabee made frequent biblical references during his appearance before the committee, saying the US has a “spiritual” association with Israel.

“The spiritual connections between … many churches in America, Jewish congregations, to the state of Israel, is because we ultimately are people of the book. We believe the Bible and therefore that connection is not geopolitical. It is also spiritual.”

While Mr Huckabee received a series of easy-to-answer questions from Republicans on the committee, Democrats pressed him on other issues, including Mr Trump's proposal for a US takeover of Gaza.

Mr Trump had originally said the project – whose stated goal would be Gaza's transformation into the “Riviera of the Middle East” – would require the displacement of the enclave's two million-plus residents, but in a later U-turn said “nobody will expel Palestinians”.

Donald Trump announces US will take control of Gaza Strip

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Mr Huckabee denied Mr Trump would forcefully displace Palestinians. “That has not been his statement 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,” he said “There shouldn't be forced displacement unless it's for their own security.”

He added that “Hamas will have no future in Gaza – it can't”.

Long publicly opposed to a two-state solution, Mr Huckabee sidestepped direct questions on the issue, predicating the possibility of a future Palestinian state on a “cultural shift” against anti-Semitism and an admission that Israel has a right to exist.

During his testimony, he also praised the Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain, and later Sudan and Morocco. He said Mr Trump's “first term success” with the accords gives “real hope” for what might follow.

“The President is in an incredible position to build upon what he did in his first term, expanding the Abraham Accords to include not only the Saudis, but other Gulf state nations,” he told the hearing. “There's no reason that there's not a build upon the Abraham Accords. They were historic, significant in so many ways.”

He added that a common enemy in the Middle East is Iran. “I'm grateful to serve a president who recognises that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and that it is better to bankrupt them than it is to bomb them,” he said, referring to Mr Trump's maximum pressure campaign aimed at hamstringing Tehran's activities in the region through heavy sanctions.

Mr Huckabee's nomination still needs to be approved by the Foreign Relations Committee. If approved, it it will go to the full Senate for a vote.