The gaping divide between evangelicals and the rest of American Christianity will be on vivid display tomorrow, March 25, as the U.S. Senate holds confirmation hearings for Mike Huckabee, President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel.
The former Southern Baptist pastor and former governor of Arkansas is one of the best-known American Zionists, which has earned him admiration from supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the American evangelical lobby that sees the modern state of Israel as a fulfillment of end-times prophecies.
To other more progressive Christians and the liberal side of American Jews, Huckabee represents everything that’s wrong with America’s unquestioned alliance with Israel.
Huckabee’s hearing will be held Tuesday at 10 a.m.
The America First Policy Institute praises Huckabee for his “America First credentials.”
The America First Policy Institute, a group affiliated with Trump, praises Huckabee for his “America First credentials.”
Those include his support for the Abraham Accords, bilateral agreements on Arab-Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain near the end of Trump’s first term as president; “recognizing Israel’s right and obligation to defend itself against terror and all enemies crossing its borders”; and advocating a “one-state solution” that denies Palestinian claims to land.
That latter claim means Huckabee opposes the “two-state solution” proposed for decades — by the United States and other international parties — that would give Palestinians a homeland for self-governance.
One of the major qualifications cited by Trump and other Huckabee supporters is that he has visited Israel more than 100 times and has led huge numbers of evangelical tour groups there.
Meanwhile, a host of more progressive Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups have issued pleas for the Senate not to confirm Huckabee.
Among those is MPower Change, a coalition of 65 faith and human rights groups who today sent a letter to Senate leaders of both parties expressing “strong opposition” to Huckabee’s confirmation.
“Huckabee is unfit to serve in this critical diplomatic role given his record of anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian, and antisemitic beliefs and rhetoric.”
“Huckabee is unfit to serve in this critical diplomatic role given his record of anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian, and antisemitic beliefs and rhetoric, his support for illegal settlements and annexation, as well as his extreme views supporting the Israeli government’s genocide of Palestinians,” the letter begins. “His record shows that he will continue to be a threat to the Palestinian people, Muslims, Jews and marginalized communities, and would harm any work toward building a future of lasting peace rooted in freedom and justice.”
The Muslim-organized group warns Huckabee “has consistently engaged in inflammatory and discriminatory statements that demonize Palestinians and Muslims” and “has a long history of anti-Muslim rhetoric, characterized by inflammatory statements and discriminatory remarks that perpetuate harmful stereotypes and alienate Muslim communities.”
The Alliance of Baptists is among the 65 signatories to this letter.
The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism earlier wrote to all 100 senators urging rejection of Huckabee’s nomination.
Huckabee has denied the existence of Palestinians and has denied the reality of Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank.
Jonah Pesner
“Huckabee’s views may be shaped in significant part by his deeply held evangelical faith, including what is known as ‘Christian Zionism,” says the letter signed by Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner. “This ideology professes a love of Israel rooted in the belief that Jewish sovereignty over the biblical land of Israel will hasten the return of Jesus Christ. Let us be clear: We celebrate the American commitment to religious freedom, which must never be a barrier to participation in public life. Gov. Huckabee can hold whatever faith views he believes. At the same time, as Jews and Zionists, we are gravely concerned by a teaching in which the well-being of Jews, of Israel, and of America are not ends in themselves but means to the fulfillment of Christian eschatology.”
And U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, the most senior Jewish member of the House of Representatives, issued his own statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“Huckabee is woefully unfit to serve as the United States’ ambassador to Israel,” he wrote. “A vote by any senator for Huckabee is a vote for enacting policies that are counter to American interests, Israel’s vital character as both a Jewish and democratic state, and Israel and the region’s long-term security. A vote for Huckabee is a vote to empower a Christian nationalist vision for American foreign policy.”
Nadler warned that Huckabee, “like President Trump, has a disturbing history of spreading dangerous, unfounded fantasies that not only jeopardize U.S. interests but also destabilize global relations, as evidenced by his brazen denial of the existence of the Palestinian people.”
He warns: “In this moment of tumult in the region, we cannot afford a United States ambassador with such dangerous views.”
Sabeel North America, a group supporting Palestinian Christians, also released a statement urging rejection of Huckabee.
“By all measures, Huckabee is an apocalyptic extremist with a long history of incendiary public statements and bigoted beliefs,” the statement says. “Operating on the basis of a false, ahistorical worldview completely divorced from on-the-ground realities, his appointment would do nothing to secure peace, justice or security for the peoples of the Holy Land or the wider region. Just the opposite, it has the potential for great harm.”
Senate confirmation of ambassadors, as with cabinet nominees, requires only a simple majority vote, meaning 51 senators in favor. The Republican Party currently has a 53-seat majority in the Senate.
According to the Washington Post, there are 1,300 federal roles that require Senate confirmation of a presidential appointment. Thus far, Trump has nominated 239 people to official roles and the Senate has confirmed 32.
No other ambassador nominations have been approved yet.
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