The future US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, appointed this Tuesday by the president-elect, Donald Trump, has stated that “of course” the new Administration could support an annexation of the West Bank by the Jewish State, days after the minister of Israeli finance, Bezalel Smotrich, will claim to see the victory of the Republican magnate an “opportunity” for “sovereignty” in the Palestinian territories.
Huckabee made this statement this Wednesday on Israeli military radio, when he was asked if “he could annex the West Bank during Trump’s term.” “Of coursebut the president will make the policy. The people of Israel deserve a safe country. Anything I can do to satisfy that will be a privilege,” the former Arkansas governor responded.
These words come just a day after Trump appointed him as the next ambassador to Israel, a key diplomatic position considering regional tensions and conflicts. different open fronts for the Israeli Army.
In announcing the appointment, Trump stressed that Huckabee “loves Israel and the people of Israel” and that “will work tirelessly to achieve peace in the Middle East.”
Facilitate negotiations with Hamas
The former governor has spoken out in recent months regarding the war in the Middle East and has defended positions against the ceasefire as a bargaining chip to facilitate negotiations with Hamas, since he believes that it should not be engage in dialogue with a terrorist group and advocates its total elimination.
The statements also come after this Monday the Israeli Minister Smotrich affirmed that the election of Trump as the new head of the White House represents an “important opportunity” for Israel to gain “sovereignty” of the West Bank.
“We are one step away from obtaining sovereignty in the settlements of Judea and Samaria, the biblical name for the West Bank, and now is the time to give it,” the far-right politician said then. The minister has even set 2025 as the date for this milestone, which would imply consolidating the current occupation.
The controversial statements have already been condemned by the Palestinian Authority, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), the European Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which encompasses 56 statesand among others the governments of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Qatar and Türkiye.
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