Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is currently on a visit in Israel with Dr. Joe Frager and the National Counsel of Young Israel. BIN caught up with the 2016 presidential candidate in Jerusalem where he discussed a wide range of topics ranging from his private conversations with President Trump to the resignation of his daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders as the White House press secretary.
Conversations with Trump
When asked about Trump’s decision to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the ex-governor revealed details of a conversation he had with the President. Huckabee was impressed with Trump’s decision despite all of the international pressure and felt compelled to ask the POTUS why, despite all of the worldwide pressure against the decision, he moved it. “The president said: I said I was going to it and it was the right thing to do” he opined. Huckabee’s message to Trump vis-a-vis Israel: “Stay the course”, adding that the president “far exceeded my hopes and expectations”.
The Jewish Community vs Christian Community
However, when asked about the dwindling Christian community in Bethlehem, he recalled the fact that the city used to be 80% Christian but is now barely 20% noting that the reason was correlated to PA control of the city. Huckabee added that one of the reasons that he supports Israel as well as the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria is because he doesn’t “want to see happen to the Jewish community what happened to the Christian community”.
He also noted that there has been “no better ambassador to Israel than David Friedman”.
The secret Christian plot
Huckabee put the fear of many Jews to rest regarding the true intentions of Christian Zionists. Many Jews believe that their love of Israel and the Jewish people is all part of a grand scheme to convert the them to Christianity. However, he made sure to speak for Evangelicals exclusively saying that Evangelical Christians believe in the “authority of scripture”. “When the Bible says ‘I will bless those who bless you’, it’s game over. The Jewish people are the people he chose and it’s not my job to argue but to celebrate it” he added.
Huckabee also added that the Jewish people have “no greater friends than Evangelicals”.
The spokeswoman
When asked about the unexpected resignation of his daughter, former White House Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the former governor explained that she wanted to spend more time with her kids. However, he did add that as her boss: “Trump was a gentleman to my daughter. He trusted her and she trusted him”.
On Bibi
When asked about the current Israeli elections, Huckabee admitted that he was not familiar with all the candidates however he did add that the current Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is the best leader, in his opinion, to represent Israel. Huckabee spoke of Netanyahu with admiration noting that he is the “only statesman I know that can speak as comfortably with the Russian president as he can with the American one.” The former governor added that this was an advantage for American interests as Netanyahu could be “used to communicate messages as an interlocutor between the US and countries that the US is not on such good terms with”
Huckabee’s closing message to Christians who are neutral regarding Israel: “Absorb yourself in the Bible”.
