Move the Embassy!
The transition period for the new Trump administration is comical. The media are howling if he doesn’t name all his cabinet picks in 30 minutes. Of course, if he did that, they’d scream that he wasn’t deliberate enough.
One interesting discussion at the moment is a potential role for Mike Huckabee. The former Arkansas governor is rumored to be in line for the ambassadorship to Israel.
That’d be a great pick.
In an interview with Eric Bolling at FOX, Huckabee said that, in fact, he had not discussed that position with Trump. The media had been reporting late this week that the deal was sealed. Somebody is not telling the truth!
But in the event Huckabee is installed as ambassador, does that make it more likely the U.S. embassy will be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem?
We don’t know.
I met Huckabee when he was a 37-year-old Southern Baptist preacher running for Lt. Governor of Arkansas. Naturally, he was ambitious, and I’ve always been ambivalent about preachers running for political office. However, Huckabee was a great governor later, for a decade, and his conservative credentials are legit. Further, his love for Israel and his friendship with Bibi Netanyahu is unquestioned.
George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama would not move on the senate vote of 1995 to move the embassy, and everyone knew it was because they didn’t want to offend the sensibilities of the Palestinians and thus “influence” the “negotiations” between Israel and the Arabs.
The real issue here is that these men indirectly influenced the violence unleashed by the death-loving Palestinians. All the presidents knew what Yasser Arafat was, but they refused to hold the Palestinians accountable. And let’s be clear: moving the embassy does not violate “international law,” as the leftist media and politicians howl. It is a matter of political will.
IF the Americans do move the embassy, it will be a watershed moment, and signal that the infamous Oslo Accords and the flawed model they rode in on are dead.
We shall see. I do believe Donald Trump is a genuine friend of Israel and that alone will be a difference from the Marxist-leaning Obama, who loathes the Jewish state.
Currently, there are no foreign embassies in Jerusalem, as the nations cower before the hurt feelings of the Palestinians. The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv is just south of the beautiful marina, steps from the beach.
You might be interested to know that the plot of ground earmarked for the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem is located in the neighborhood of Talpiot…where Benjamin Netanyahu grew up. The family home of Benzion Netanyahu is located in Talpiot and there the three boys fierce Zionism was formed. How delicious it would be if the new embassy finds its home there, finally.
We will know soon about Huckabee’s appointment, and it’s no coincidence I think that Christmas approaches.
What a gift that would be!