Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee arrived in Israel on Tuesday, ahead of meetings with Israeli officials with whom he plans to discuss the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran. "I wish that every candidate, Republican or Democrat, would come to Israel to show solidarity with the country that most reflects the American spirit, to show solidarity with the Israeli people and to show their extreme disgust with any deal with Iran," the former Arkansas governor told reporters.
Credit: Reuters
Asked about his recent remarks that by signing a nuclear agreement with Iran, U.S. President Barack Obama was "marching Israelis to the door of the oven," Huckabee said these are the words of the Iranian regime and that, as an American citizen, he is worried about the fact that Iran is making the same threat against the United States. The only thing he regrets, Huckabee said, was that the U.S. was making a deal with a "terrorist state."
"It was the Iranians who invoked the imagery and very word Holocaust, they have said that they have developed missiles that will deliver Israel to the Holocaust. Those are their words," he said.
The Iranian regime "has already said it wants to wipe Israel off the face of the map. I think what a lot of Americans don't understand is Israel is the opening act, but the main event is America. [The Iranians] have not been subtle or coy about it. You have to take people seriously when they say they're going to kill you," Huckabee said.
Speaking to reporters at Tel Shilo, the ancient site for which the modern Jewish community nearby is named and where tradition holds that the ancient Israelites kept the tabernacle with Moses' tablets on its way to Jerusalem, the GOP hopeful waded into Middle East politics by declaring Judea and Samaria to be part of Israel.
"I am delighted tonight to be here at Shilo. It is an exciting place and an important place. It is the place where the tabernacle once was. It's a place of Biblical history," Huckabee said.
He told reporters "if you're going to visit Israel you should visit all of Israel, and that would include Judea and Samaria," the biblical names for the West Bank.
His comments on Judea and Samaria are at odds with U.S. policy.
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