After President-elect Donald Trump introduced his nomination of Mike Huckabee for U.S. Ambassador to Israel on Tuesday, distinguished Christian nationalists — who see unwavering help for Israel as key to hastening Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ — have been thrilled.
“There is no better person to represent the American people in Jerusalem at this time,” Sandra Hagee Parker, chairwoman of the political arm of the nonprofit Christians United For Israel, mentioned in a press release posted to X. “@GovMikeHuckabee believes in Israel’s right to self-determination and defense, not because it is politically convenient to do so but because these are immutable tenets of his core beliefs.”
CUFI is a far-right Christian Zionist group that claims 8 million members in America and enjoys the help of many main Republican figures, together with Home Speaker Mike Johnson. Though CUFI’s help for Israel, and extra particularly far-right Israeli politicians and settlers, is expressed as a love for Jews, the group can also be pushed by evangelical Christians’ interpretation of Biblical end-times prophecy.
Pastor John Hagee, the group’s founder and Parker’s father, believes the return of Jews to Israel and the expulsion of Palestinians from their lands are mandatory steps in bringing forth the top of the world, Jesus’ return to Earth, and the eventual rapture of Christians to Heaven. (There are totally different formulations about what occurs to the Jews in Israel throughout this end-times state of affairs, however the prevailing idea is that they must mass-convert to Christianity to get to Heaven, or in any other case be doomed to Hell.)
This arguably antisemitic interpretation of scripture is widespread amongst American Christian evangelicals in America, together with Huckabee. Now, as Israel’s assault on Gaza, made potential by U.S. cash and weapons, continues at a daunting tempo — killing over 41,000 Palestinians, in accordance with probably the most conservative estimates — the nation will quickly benefit from the unwavering help of an evangelical Christian ambassador who has mentioned that “there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.”
Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister and former governor of Arkansas who ran twice for president, has extra not too long ago labored because the host of a chat present on the Trinity Broadcasting Community. He’s additionally recognized for main Christian excursions of Israel, and for his staunch help of unlawful settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.
“There are certain words I refuse to use,” he mentioned throughout a 2017 journey to Ma’ale Adumim, an Israeli settlement within the West Financial institution thought-about unlawful underneath worldwide legislation. “There is no such thing as a West Bank — it’s Judea and Samaria. There’s no such thing as a settlement. They’re communities. They’re neighborhoods. They’re cities. There’s no such thing as an occupation.”
“Judea and Samaria” are Biblical phrases for the West Financial institution, and are steadily deployed by Christian and Jewish Zionists as a method of expressing their perception in Jews’ divine proper to the Holy Land.
In 2008, Huckabee denied that Palestinians exist in any respect.
Talking at a presidential marketing campaign cease, in accordance with a video unearthed by BuzzFeed, Huckabee mentioned: “Basically, there really is no such thing as — I need to be careful about saying this, because people will really get upset — there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian. There’s not,” earlier than including: “You have Arabs and Persians, and there’s such complexity in that. But there’s really no such thing. That’s been a political tool to try and force land away from Israel.”
Such anti-Palestinian rhetoric has made him a number one determine amongst Christian Zionists in America.
“Congrats to my friend @GovMikeHuckabee on his nomination to become US Ambassador to Israel,” Sean Feucht, the distinguished Christian nationalist and MAGA musician, wrote on X. “I met Mike for first time on the streets of Jerusalem many years ago. He openly shared his love & dedication to the Holy Land. What an EXCELLENT choice @realDonaldTrump.”
Tony Perkins, the anti-LGTBQ+ preacher who heads up the far-right Household Analysis Council, and who’s a frequent traveler to Israel, additionally took time to congratulate his good friend.
“What a remarkable time to have such a staunch ally and defender of Israel in that key role,” Perkins wrote on X. “Thank you Donald Trump for such a wise pick. I told Governor Huckabee earlier today that I would be praying for him. Will you join me?”
Excessive right-wing figures in Israel additionally hailed Huckabee’s nomination, with Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posting the phrases “Mike Huckabee” subsequent to a coronary heart emoji in between the Israeli and American flags.
Huckabee’s staunch help for Israel, and his denial of Palestinians’ existence, has gone hand-in-hand with an abiding Islamophobia. In 2011, arguing that Christians mustn’t hire areas of their church buildings to Muslims, Huckabee mentioned “Muslim groups” imagine “that Jesus Christ and all the people that follow him are a bunch of infidels who should be essentially obliterated.”
In 2013, he known as Islam “a religion that promotes the most murderous mayhem on the planet in their so-called holiest days.” He added that “Muslims will go to the mosque, and they will have their day of prayer, and they come out of there like uncorked animals — throwing rocks and burning cars.”
In 2017, Huckabee supported Trump’s try to ban Muslims from coming into the U.S.
His nomination for ambassador was denounced by members of many religions this week.
“The mask is off,” the liberal American Zionist group J Avenue mentioned in a press release, arguing that Huckabee’s appointment “is further proof that ‘pro-Israel’ for Trump is totally disconnected from Jewish values, safety or self-determination.”
Munther Isaac, a Christian Palestinian priest, expressed concern over Huckabee’s help of unlawful settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
“Does he know that these settlements make the lives of Palestinians, including Palestinian Christians, a living hell?!” Isaac wrote. “Does he care about us to begin with?!”
