Overview

• In a Bloomberg interview on June 10, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee said he no longer views an independent Palestinian state as a goal of American foreign policy.
• He proposed carving a Palestinian entity out of land in other Muslim-majority countries rather than in the occupied West Bank or East Jerusalem.
• Huckabee forecast that cultural barriers would prevent statehood “in our lifetime” and dismissed any requirement for Israel to cede territory.
• A prominent pro-Israel evangelical, Huckabee’s religious convictions and settlement advocacy have shaped his hard-line views on Palestinian rights.
• His comments have drawn sharp criticism from Israeli group Peace Now and scholars, and the White House and State Department have yet to respond.