As the Trump administration continues to try to broker a nuclear deal with Iran, Israel’s president Benjamin Netanyahu has not been a willing partner in those efforts.
The two spoke Monday evening, but Israel’s government has threatened strikes on Iran that could upend a deal. When Trump bypassed Israel on his Middle East trip last month, many saw it as a snub to Netanyahu.
Trump appears eager for some sort of deal, whether Israel’s current government likes it or not.
So why would the U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee expend energy (and taxpayer resources) talking to Netanyahu’s anti-Iran, hardline coalition members to ensure they keep don’t jump ship, threatening his government and power?
According to The Times of Israel on Tuesday, Huckabee met with ultra-Orthodox Haredi members of the coalition in the Knesset who have threatened to dissolve the government. These members have said they might leave Netnayahu’s coalition over the lack of an exemption to the draft for members of its community.
Huckabee reportedly told the group, "Government stability is important for addressing the Iranian issue.” It was not clear why Netanyahu's political survival would be important when it came to Iran.
Huckabee also reportedly told the Knesset group, "it would be difficult for the U.S. to back Israel if elections are held now.”
It is not exactly clear what Huckabee meant in saying this, as if U.S. support for the country was contingent upon who wins its elections.
Huckabee also said Tuesday that the U.S. no longer supports establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank, saying there’s “no room for it” and that it will likely not occur “in our lifetime.” This is also the long held position of Israel’s president, but not an official U.S. one.
Moreover, President Trump, Huckabee’s boss, has not been as clear as his ambassador appeared to be Tuesday on the issue of a Palestinian state.
Huckabee denies injecting himself into Israel’s internal politics, which would be a peculiar move for a U.S. official in the midst of his own country’s delicate diplomacy with an Israeli adversary.
“The report also said it was not clear if Huckabee was acting under U.S. President Donald Trump’s instructions or on his own initiative," the Israel Times report said, referring to Channel 13 in Israel, which broke the initial story on Huckabee's talk with the Haredi, "adding that Netanyahu was aware of the U.S. envoy’s outreach and pleased by it.”
Huckabee is an avowed Christian Zionist who has said in the past that there is no such thing is a Palestinian. But he now represents the policies of the president and the United States, not any other state or its government.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid pondered the same observation, saying he hoped the report was not correct.
“Since I have no doubt that Ambassador Huckabee respects Israel’s independence and its democracy, I hope and believe that the report that he is interfering in Israel’s internal politics and trying to help Netanyahu [deal with] the ultra-Orthodox in the military draft law crisis are not true," Lapid shared on X. "Israel is not a protectorate.”
Huckabee attempted to clarify later Tuesday that he was not interfering. “There has been no attempt to influence Haredi Knesset members regarding a decision to dissolve the government,” Huckabee wrote on X. “I have repeatedly said in private conversations that it is not the role of the United States, nor of its Ambassador, to try and choose the government of Israel.”
Lapid shared the ambassador’s post, adding, “We are grateful to Ambassador Huckabee for this important statement that he has not, and will not, get involved in the coalition crisis here in Israel.”
But if the report is credible, Lapid had good reason to be skeptical of Huckabee’s non-intervention and impartiality claims.
So might President Trump.
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