Mike Huckabee, the future US ambassador to Israel, says Trump will not seek a two-state solution
The statement was made by the former Arkansas governor, a strong supporter of Israel, during an interview in which he also praised the measures taken by Trump in favor of the Jewish state during his term in office.
Mike Huckabee with Donald Trump
Mike Huckabee, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be US ambassador to Israel, stated that under the incoming administration, which will take office next January 20, a two-state solution will not be sought.
Speaking to the Jewish magazine Ami, the former Arkansas governor said, "I’ll be very surprised if [Trump] comes and says, ‘Let’s go out there and get a two-state solution.'"
The future US ambassador to Israel, an evangelical pastor and a strong supporter of the Jewish state, also praised Trump's actions during his tenure, such as moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and the recognition of this city as Israel's capital and of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a region seized from Syria in the Six-Day War in 1967.
Huckabee argued that these measures strengthened Israel's position in the face of the Iranian threat.
Huckabee's historic support for Israel
Huckabee, who will replace Jack Lew, has always rejected the two-state solution and has spoken out in favor of the annexation of the West Bank by the Jewish state.
In fact, in 2015, during a visit to Israel as part of his Republican primary campaign, he argued in statements for the Israeli news portal Ynet that the Jewish state should have "control of Judea and Samaria (West Bank)." He also added that Jewish settlement is a factor leading to peace in the Middle East.
It should be noted that Judea and Samaria are the names of the historic regions of the Land of Israel, now often referred to as the West Bank, an area that was seized by Israel from Jordan in the defensive 1967 Six-Day War. Much of the international community demands that the Israelis withdraw from the area in order to create a Palestinian state, which would also encompass the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem as its capital.
Politics
Mike Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israel, will head the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.
Leandro Fleischer
During that visit, Huckabee also traveled to the ancient West Bank city of Shiloh, where he asserted that Judea and Samaria are an integral part of the State of Israel and should be understood by all, and urged the rest of the presidential candidates to visit both regions.
Huckabee also traveled to Israel in 2018, when he visited the West Bank community of Efrat, where he said he planned to buy a house.
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