Mike Huckabee nomination advances in Senate, one step closer to becoming ambassador to Israel

Mike Huckabee, President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel, cleared a key hurdle Tuesday after the Senate voted to end debate on his nomination.

The Senate voted 53 to 46 to advance Hucakbee’s nomination. He now awaits a final confirmation vote as Israel continues its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

While Republicans have championed Huckabee as an ardent supporter of Israel, Democrats have questioned his previous “extreme” position on Palestinians.

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The former Arkansas governor has previously argued it is Israel’s right to annex the West Bank and has flatly rejected the push to establish a two-state solution when it comes to the Gaza Strip. 

Huckabee has not commented on whether he still views the West Bank as Israel’s right to claim, or where he stands when it comes to Trump’s position on the Gaza Strip, which the president said he would like to turn into the “riviera of the Middle East” and called for the “relocation” of more than 2 million Palestinians.

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During his confirmation hearing, the former governor pushed back on claims that Trump wants to take over the Gaza Strip, insisting the president has not called for the “forced displacement” of Palestinians from Gaza – “unless it is for their safety.”

“If confirmed, it will be my responsibility to carry out the president’s priorities, not mine,” Huckabee said in response to questions levied at him from Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.

But Huckabee’s testimony during Senate questioning is unlikely to have garnered much new support from Democrats in Congress. 

“Huckabee’s positions are not the words of a thoughtful diplomat – they are the words of a provocateur whose views are far outside international consensus and contrary to the core bipartisan principles of American diplomacy,” New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, a senior Jewish Democrat, said in a statement last month. “In one of the most volatile and violent areas in the world today, there is no need for more extremism, and certainly not from the historic ambassador’s post and behind the powerful seal of the United States.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.