U.S. Ambassador to Israel nominee Mike Huckabee told Newsmax on Wednesday that he’s "hopeful" the ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas will hold because President Donald Trump is now in office.
"We all want it to happen," Huckabee said on "America Agenda." "I think everybody is praying it will be successful, but we got to be real clear. The Israelis are a government legitimately elected by their own people. They operate in a democracy. Hamas is a terrorist organization. They're thugs, criminals, savages. They brutally murdered and just massacred over 1,200 innocent civilians on Oct. 7, 2023. So, you have to always think about that we're not dealing with a legitimate government that operates by any rules that any other government on Earth will operate by.
"So, when I say I'm hopeful, I'm hopeful because Donald Trump is president," he continued. "He's the only reason that we've had any breakthrough at all. And what I'm really hopeful for is that every hostage is able to be released immediately, because they've been held unnecessarily and unlawfully for all this time. These are innocent people being held and so it grieves me to think of what these families have been through for over 470 days."
If Hamas breaks the ceasefire agreement, Huckabee said Israel "has every right to go back in" to Gaza to do whatever it needs to do to destroy the terror group.
"I think it's been very clear that President Trump has said, as his team has said, Gaza will never be governed by Hamas," he said. "So, they can get over that. It's not going to happen. But they have to let these hostages go. Donald Trump was very clear. If they don't, they'll have hell to pay. And I just believe that Hamas is recognizing that Donald Trump is a guy who when he says something, he means it. If he makes a promise, he keeps it. All of America is seeing that just in three days if you think of the dozens and dozens of promises that he made during the campaign he's already kept. So, if Hamas is listening, they better take heed. Donald Trump isn't playing and he's not going to do what the Biden administration did, which was put more pressure on Israel to have a ceasefire than they did on Hamas to stop their nonsense."
Huckabee, a Baptist minister, also commented on the controversy surrounding the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the bishop who leads the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. Budde asked Trump at Tuesday’s National Prayer Service to have "mercy" on immigrants and gay and transgender children.
"It was incredibly inappropriate," Huckabee said. "It was disrespectful. She abused the position of the pulpit in a way that I've rarely ever seen. And frankly, I think we just need to ignore her. Her 15 minutes of self-imposed fame should be over, but what she said was disgusting. It was totally out of line for what should have been a unifying church service. And I really do hope that people will realize that she has had so many past hateful statements about Donald Trump. So, for her to pretend that she's trying to bring people together, that's a joke."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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