On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) stated that he is concerned that President-Elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be United States Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, opposes a two-state solution with Israel and Palestine and is an Evangelical who has strong religious views about the subject.
Host Andrea Mitchell said, “He has said that Palestinians have no right to the land on the West Bank, they just happen to live there. He’s also talking about the possibility of annexing the West Bank, which would abrogate all of these U.N. resolutions, Camp David, the two-state solution, what is your reaction to him? He’s an Evangelical Christian and has strong religious views about this based in the Bible.”
Van Hollen responded, “Well, Andrea, it’s good to be with you. And I definitely have the concerns that you just laid out here. It will be an interesting hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, when we get to that point. Because anybody who knows the Middle East recognizes that the best long-term solution to guarantee both Israel’s security and the dignity and security and rights of the Palestinian people is a two-state solution. What Mike Huckabee has said is just the opposite. He supports this concept of a greater Israel, Israel controlling the entire territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. That’s a Mike Huckabee vision. It’s a vision that has been embraced by the far right in Israel, including members of the Netanyahu government…so this is a recipe, if he continues to pursue these views, for continued instability and violence in the Middle East. So, this is not a good signal. Hopefully, we’ll see what Mike Huckabee says, again, at the time of his confirmation hearing.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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