Though he was interrupted some half a dozen times by anti-Israel protesters, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee appeared to emerge from a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing, during which Republicans embraced him and Democrats challenged him on some of his controversial positions, with few hiccups.
“I am not here to articulate or defend my own views or policies but to present myself as one who will respect and represent the president, whose overwhelming election by the people will hopefully give me the honor of serving as ambassador to the state of Israel,” Huckabee said in his opening statement on Tuesday.
A strident supporter of Israel who has routinely said that the Palestinians are not entitled to a state and who has voiced approval for wide-ranging Israeli settlement in, and sovereignty over, Judea and Samaria, Huckabee told the committee that it wouldn’t be his “prerogative” to carry out his views.
“If confirmed, it will be my responsibility to carry out the president’s priorities, not mine,” he said, in response to a question from Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).
Huckabee appeared to correct the senator after Merkley referred to annexing the “West Bank.”
“I have previously supported it, yes sir, Judea and Samaria,” Huckabee said, referring to the region by its biblical and historical name.
Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), told JNS outside the committee hearing room that Huckabee should meet any harsh questioning head on during the confirmation.
“I think he just needs to be honest and talk through whatever the concerns are,” Boozman said. “He has a very strong track record supporting Israel. He was a great governor in Arkansas. He’s very well respected in our state, and I think he will be a tremendous representative for the United States as ambassador to Israel.”
The former presidential hopeful laid out his case for the U.S.-Israel relationship, boasting of what he said was a 50-year affinity for Israel.
“There is no country across the globe that more mirrors our own struggle and our own level of democracy than does the State of Israel,” Huckabee said.
“We are ultimately people of the book. We believe the Bible,” added Huckabee, one of more prominent U.S. evangelical Christians. “That connection is not geopolitical. It is also spiritual.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) asked Huckabee during the hearing why U.S. defense of Israel is so critical. Huckabee discussed the overarching threat from Tehran.
“As expressed by the Iranian government, Israel is the appetizer and we are the entrée,” he said. “This is not just about Israel. It is about us, and if we don’t stand with them, they stand alone. And if they fall alone, we fall next.”
Huckabee challenged the belief that it is up to the United States to continue pushing for a two-state solution. He noted the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to commit to living side-by-side with Israel peacefully and its pay-for-slay policy.
“Compensation is given to those who murder Jews, parks and streets are named for those who do it, pensions are given to families of those who are killed in the line of killing Jews,” Huckabee said. “That’s a difficult pathway to peace.”
He dismissed the “the notion that everyone is going to live together, toast marshmallows around the campfire singing kumbaya and it’s going to happen in our lifetime.”
Asked what she thought of Huckabee’s testimony, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) told JNS that “we both agree that Israel needs to be safe and secure.”
“I do think it’s important that this remains a strongly bipartisan issue,” the senator said. “It is in the safety and security of not just Israel Jews around the world, but for our national security and safety and the region.”
Rosen told JNS that she had spoken with Huckabee privately in the last few weeks and that “we’re going to have to maybe have a few more discussions about some of his policies and what he thinks going forward.”
JNS asked which specific policies remained concerns of hers. “His idea that he’s not supportive of a two-state solution or a path forward,” Rosen said. “We have to have a path forward that has buy-in in the region.”
Huckabee is widely expected to be approved by the Republican-led panel.
The committee has not yet set a date for a vote. Should it approve Huckabee’s nomination, the full Senate would then meet to vote on his confirmation.
Some Democratic Jewish groups had come out against Huckabee’s nomination.
The Orthodox Union Advocacy Center was among those that backed the former governor. Nathan Diament, executive director of OU Advocacy, wrote to committee members that “Gov. Huckabee brings a profound understanding of the security challenges confronting Israel and an unwavering commitment to the U.S.-Israel alliance.”