T. Belman. Contrary to what this article suggests, Huckabee will probably not run for the Presidency. But what is important is that he has broken the mould making it easier for others to follow.
Potential 2012 U.S. presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Tuesday that if Palestinians want an independent state, they should seek it from Arabs – not Israel.
The evangelical minister and Fox News host said Jews should be allowed to settle anywhere throughout the biblical Land of Israel – an area that includes the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
He called the demand on Israel to give up land for peace an “unrealistic, unworkable and unreachable goal.”
Most of the international community – including President Barack Obama – considers Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem illegal because they are built on occupied land Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim both areas for a future state.
Huckabee suggested that a Palestinian state were to be established, it shouldn’t come at Israel’s expense.
“There are vast amounts of territory that are in the hands of Muslims, in the hands of Arabs. Maybe the international community can come together and accommodate,” he said in a meeting with reporters.
Huckabee makes frequent trips to Israel to voice support for Jewish settlements.
He’s currently being hosted by The Jerusalem Reclamation Project, a group that promotes settlements in an attempt to bolster a Jewish presence in mostly Arab areas. Joined by actor Jon Voight on the three-day visit, Huckabee’s itinerary includes tours of Jewish settlements and meetings with Israeli leaders.
Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas and a presidential contender in 2008, is expected to seek the Republican nomination to run against Obama in 2012.
He said that as president he would move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – affirming Israel’s position that the city should be its undivided and eternal capital – and said he would not pressure Israel into making any territorial concessions.
He was critical of previous U.S. attempts to broker a peace agreement with Palestinians, who he says have yet to truly recognize Israel’s right to exist within secure borders.
“I know my view on this may be seen as the minority, out of the mainstream of the more politically correct idealistic view that we can just have a conference or a meeting and bring the diplomats together, toast marshmallows, build a camp fire and sing Kumbaya. It has not happened. I’m not confident that it ever could or would,” he said.
He said any peace agreement has to recognize that “the Jewish people have indigenous rights to the land in which they occupy and live and it goes back not 60 years or 80 years but it goes back 3,500 years.”
Yamit,
Four years ago, it was February of 2007. Obama’s name was on the national radar screen, but only just.
Any poll conducted then would have had him planted firmly in “also ran” territory. Few really took him seriously then as national ticket material.
Point being, it is WAY too early to tell who is going to get the nomination. I’m not making predictions any more myself on that one.
There are many signs that things are going to get worse with the U.S. economy, though. Some bright signs – car sales – but construction/housing is still in the dumps. Unemployment is still very high by historical standards for the U.S. Wages are stagnant; they have to be, when unemployment is high. But inflation is for real, particularly for the most important things: food and energy.
Inflation + high unemployment + stagnant wages = DISASTER.
I expect another ’08-style downturn within the next two years. That sank McCain, who wasn’t even responsible. That will destroy Obama, and his incredibly awful foreign policy will only add fuel to the fire to well, ‘fire’ him. Kind of like a replay of what happened to Carter, only this time only more so in every sense.
Just hope we all come out the other side of this OK.
Jews for nothing
Survey Finds Jews Are Top Givers in the U.S.
According to a survey by the Chronicle on Philanthropy, five of the six biggest charity donors in the United States are Jewish. But those donors give only a negligible part of their money to specifically Jewish causes.
The Chronicle’s list, however, also offers more cause for concern for those in the Jewish nonprofit world who wring their hands about the lack of giving by Jews to Jewish causes.
The Institute for Jewish and Communal Research has collected data showing that less than a quarter of all philanthropic dollars given by Jews go to overtly Jewish causes.
As Rabbi Kahane remarked, “Worse than Jews for Jesus. Worse than Jews for Gurus. Worse than Jews for Marx. Jews for Nothing.”
Sorry Susan in advance. 🙂
Poll: Obama Even With Huckabee and Romney
A new poll whose results were published on Sunday shows that if the U.S. presidential elections were held today, it would be a very close race between the Democrats and the Republicans.
According to the poll by Rasmussen Reports, the two strongest candidates against President Barack Obama right now would be Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, but both of them would be essentially tied with Obama. Romney would receive 44 percent to Obama’s 42 percent, while Huckabee and the president would each receive 43 percent of the vote.
The poll looked at three other well-known potential candidates: Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. All three trail Obama, with Palin at 38 percent compared to Obama’s 49 percent, Gingrich at 39 percent compared to 47 percent, and Paul by at 35 percent compared to 44 percent for the president.
For you Arnold!
A Jewish state cannot live side by side with the Exile. The latter is doomed; it is a Divine decree. The Exile will be destroyed in a holocaust of horror!
The “religious” Jew? Nay, say rather the Orthodox practitioner of Jewish ritual whose sojourn in an Exile two millennia old has corrupted and perverted the most basic of real Jewish values. Bearded and piously payotic; or cleanshaven and woolly skullcapped, they join with all the others in the ecumenical worship of the Golden Calf of our times:
The Golden Exile.
The Exile is the personification of Jewish weakness, defeat, flight, persecution, torture, humiliation, genocide, holocaust, degradation. And because of this, it must – in the eyes of the gentiles – personify the weakness, so to speak, of the G-d of the Jews. To the enemy of the Jew, Jewish defeat is proof of the inability of the G-d of Israel to give His people strength and triumph and glory. Such a G-d is either impotent or non-existent.
The point that we need to emphasise is that the “Palestinians” are a political concoction by a Christian Arab, Antonius; that there is no West Bank, only Judea and Samaria; there were and are no “Palestinian” lands, hence there is no occupation; there is no East Jerusalem – Jerusalem is one city which was for a mere 19 years cut in two by a vicious invader; Israel is a democracy, which is why it it popular with USA citizens who do not fall for the apartheid canard of liars who rule mohammmedan regimes; there is no peace process, since no Arab nation which has signed a treaty with Israel has fully implemented it and Arafat revealed it to be a lie before the ink on the Oslo agreement had dried. Rabin should have sent him back to Tunis after his Cape Town renunciation of his pledge to refrain from terror.
World leaders are pretending that they are dealing with sincere leaders. They are in fact dealing with a “president” who has not called elections for two years, who claims to speak for Gaza which he does not control and whose jihadi rulers also have cancelled elections. The whole lot of tyrants supported by the international community while they wage terror war from Gaza and war by every other means from Ramallah.
Israel needs to find leaders who end this sick charade and tell the Arabs that there is a price to pay for their agression and deceit. Christian leaders like Huckabee might just stand up for what is right and tell the jihadis that the game is over. A leader must be found who tells the mohammedans to join the 21st century or they will rejoin the stone age and such a leader must back up his or her words with action.
AM ISRAEL CHAI……..signed G-D OF ISRAEL
Yamit,
I think your first stated analysis of Huckabee was clear-eyed and on the money. I applaud it. I also could not for the life of me understand Susan’s response. In particular her use of the word, “immoral” as in If he is such a humble man as he is made out to be I am sure he would be horrified you made such a immoral comparison that he brings dozens of people on his ‘many trips’ while some Jews never come to Israel.
Help Mr. Wizard!
I just do not understand the English grammar of your sentence Susan. However, I’m happy to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that I’m the odd man out. That there is a historical context to which this sentence is referring — and that I am unaware of (i.e. in other posts in the past). If not, the I am at a complete loss as to what you intended to say to Yamit. But, the sun will rise tomorrow either way. So if Yamit could make sense of it, then I certainly have no quarrel.
I think Huckabee is an extremely smart man in the mold of Bill Clinton, but without the obvious handicaps (the women on the side was the lesser of his handicaps, the fact that almost everyone could tell he was fudging the truth, at the minimum, but decided to let it slide due to people’s perception that he as a “likable guy” was a greater handicap in my mind — that is, everyone knew he was a frequent “non-truth teller.” The problem for Clinton being that the minute he was not deemed as “likable” anymore, as likable, that is as when he first ran, then all that the country was left with was the queasy feeling that he wasn’t telling the truth on many occasions.
Huckabee on the other hand certainly comes across as very much the straightest shooter out there. Now I don’t know what’s “in his mind” but he certainly comes across as a truth-teller (PC be damned), there’s no question (in my mind at least) about that — and his very UN-hip shtick with the guitar only adds to his “regular guy” appearance.
The bottom line is that there are many good Republicans who would make great Secretaries of this that and the other thing, but we’re still looking for that “leader” i think (unless someone already existing in the race really produces a shocker of sorts.
— FF
P.S. But I tell you, it wouldn’t surprise me if the number of American Jews who have visited Israel is a number that is very disappointing to us all.
Hi, everybody. What a lively debate!
Ted, Huck will run. Trust me. That is the whole point of his TV show.
I don’t know if he can get the nomination; that is another story.
I’m pretty confident that whoever does get the Repub nomination will win in 2012.
I agree with HCQ that his appeal is regional, which is why I’m not sure he can get the nomination. But if he can overcome that, he’ll beat Obama as well.
I don’t know if Obama can even swing “regional” appeal by 2012, except maybe in California, where the politics are particularly nuts (and where Obama is most popular by far….go figure).
B’emet! My family of 7 is here because of a birthright trip my 2 older ones took 4 years ago. Our nephew just arrived for his aliyah last week. G-d willing the whole family will be here in time…
All the Sarah Palin supporters I know also support Israel.
What Yonatan said.
About “Jewish Huckabees”, nothing compares to the Taglit/Birthright program.
Arnold – I applaud what you wrote above. I have read your reasons why you won’t come here to live. Perhaps your coming here would be the penultimate act of your already full life. Think about it some more, if we can’t get someone like you here, what chance do we have with others? Please? I’m sure your decision to come here would affect many others in your family and friends…
How about 20% was all that came out? See Rashi’s commentary on the word “Va’chamushim” in Exodus 13:18. They used to show there the Judaica Press’ English translation of Rashi. I assume they removed it so that people would buy the JP’s CD. 🙂
Anyone’s entitled to state the truth.
There are no Jewish Huckabees, Yamit, other than those you can find already in Israel. Chutz l’Aretz has long been drained of the best. and most of what’s left are pale reflections of what oght to be recognized as authentic Jews. Build Aretz-Yisrael on what you have in hand, Yamit. And don’t be too surprised by analysis of reality. Some years ago, one of the Lubavitcher ravs told me, in answer to my direct question, that in the time of Moshe Raveinu, some 40 per cent of the Jews in Egypt remained there and did not take part in the great Exodus into and across Sinai. Or maybe my memory is wrong, and that only 40 per cent crossed into the desert out of Egypt.
To be sure, there are many, many Orthodox Jews, all diligently working at their 612 (?) mitzvot, making certain that no minyan within walking distance on any shtiebl on a shabat morning goes unfilled, and outdoing one another with frenzied attempts to bring glatt kashrut to ever more observant levels. And endless all-but-hidden disputations over Talmud, but all too little understanding of the directly-stated commands to the Jewish nation writ large in the original, fundamental and irreplaceable Tora. Leadership from them? To bring more millions of diaspora Jews to Aretz-Yisrael? Hardly.
I’m sure you would tell me that a mostly secular Jew such as me is the wrong kind of guy to be making such comments. And you probably would be right. But I see what I see, hear what I hear, and conclude what I conclude.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
I don’t like any of the potential candidates that are visible today and BTW I don’t care much who wins, as none will be smart enough, politically brave enough to do what will need to be done. Therefore looking way down the road America becomes just another player among equals. That said, I see no orthodox conservative or Libertarian having the slightest chance of beating Obama in 2012.
Huckabee being a liberal conservative has a better chance of getting the independents than all the rest without totally alienating the extreme right. I call them extreme as That’s how most mainstream independents and Republicans see them.
Dunno if he will run but I hope so he will add to the selection process mostly because he has convictions and is up to date on all the relevant concerns of America and Israel.
That’s the point! Most Jews whether 10% or 20% is correct have never visited Israel but can be seen in every other tourist venue in the world.
Huckabee brings groups to educate and to experience Israel, even if it is based on his Christian beliefs. Where is I ask, our Jewish Huckabee?
My Hatikva
My Hatikva:
I am a Jew
All this you deduced from my statement that I had read somewhere that no more than 10% of American Jews had ever visited Israel? That’s some extrapolation! Why you have chosen to make this personal is for you to know but it is beyond me.
I was making a comparative example of some Palin Supporters with Huckabee as to their credentials of being supportive of Israel. Again I don’t see how this relates to you personally even if you support Palin?
Sidestepping the conversion debate, as I like Jews pretty well just the way they are, I like John Hagee because he’s one of those fire and brimstone preachers. I’m not a fan of the huckster; while I support his zionist inclinations wholeheartedly, he is a little too domestically liberal for my taste. I don’t think Huckabee would win the presidency; he has more of a regional appeal then national.
We gave Gaza to the so called “palestinians” (Although there never has been such a people), and we got ROCKETS in return.
We gave Egypt back the Sinai with it’s oil, and we are about to get our treaty stomped on.
We gave Southern Lebanon back and we got Hezbolla also shooting rockets at us.
If we give any further bit of Israel including the so called OCCUPIED TERRITORIES (a made up “palestinian” name, which means
nothing because it was taken by winning a war in which we were attacted, and essentially handed to us by Jordon) shame on us.
If the arabs (“palestinians”) had wanted peace with Israel, it could have happened a long time ago. Who’s kidding who, the
“palestinian” who makes a deal with Israel will be lynched before he can drive home from the meeting. Nobody who wears a Keffiyeh
is that brave.
.”
I predict this is the rhetoric that will emerge more often as a result of the collapse of Egypt.
Israel is coming to the realization that whoever replaces Mubarak will, by necessity, willingly and happily, be anti-Israel. That will result in the collapse and end of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Foolish Israelis will have no land and no peace, and they’ll learn, the hard way, that their land is never to be given to the enemy under any circumstances. Then, they’ll have to learn how to justify its possession. They’ll have to start learning and quoting Torah to the world.
Mike Huckabee has read his Bible and that’s why he made this remark about Jewish rights to the land of Israel. Israelis must pick leaders who have total conviction in the “Jewish mission” as described in the Torah, to be fulfilled in Israel. When they’re represented by leaders with this type of content, things will be easier and more clear.
Egypt???, the hell with Egypt!
Seriously, that is such a stretch I am in shock. I can not believe what you wrote.
Tell you what. Huckabee is a great guy. Good for him he brings people on his trips. If he is such a humble man as he is made out to be I am sure he would be horrified you made such a immoral comparison that he brings dozens of people on his ‘many trips’ while some Jews never come to Israel.
you stated:
Boy, that must have felt good/
In the mean time please furnish a link to that ‘report.’
BTW: We Jews have worked pretty darn hard to prove ourselves…you have no idea! Yes indeed,all of us, from left to right. My blood, my heritage, my ancestors all! Not even the most sanctimonious of the lot have walked in those footsteps!
My goodness 2011 and the innuendo’s still fly. Well, we don’t have to prove ourselves any more. All those little catch phrases and finger pointing. NO MORE.
Best of all, those innuendos no longer hurt my/our credibility but yours.
In deference to you, you stated:
So far, yes. But here is the kicker when speaking of friends. Why is it some who claim to be friends never miss a chance to take a dig which you undoubtedly did?
The Israeli Ministry of Tourism should be giving Huck a piece of the action as he has brought more Tourists to Israel than most Jews coming to visit. An exaggeration but reports I’ve read no more than 10% of American Jews have ever visited Israel. In ea. of his 15 trips to Israel he has brought groups of up to 150 ea visit with him.
Unlike some who just wear Israeli/American flag pins he not only talks the talk but walks the walk.
I like him even though is is more liberal on domestic issues and I’ve seen James Baker cow him in frontal debate. I still like him. He is ugly but smart and articulate. He talks straight without political guile, at least that’s the impression I get.
The documentation has already been pointed out to you that Hagee and numerous ministries involved in CUFI, including several of its directors, directly advocate and promote missionary work in Israel against the Jews.
Time to take your head out of your arse.
Count me in. I have been very impressed with his intelligence, knowledge of international affairs and his unqualified love of Israel. If he can not be elected president, I believe him to be very qualifies for Secretary of State.
I’ve respected Mike Huckabee for a long time. He represents the best of the best of Bible-focused American Christianity, which is what his strong Christian Zionism is based upon. Along with that, he has been a strong and consistent voice on behalf of the conservative policies which themselves constitute a key element in turning around the American economy and perhaps even the American destiny.
So it is hardly accidental that he would take a strong stand in favor of the right of the Jewish nation to resettle any and all parts of biblical Aretz-Yisrael. Like Pastor John Hagee’s Christians United For Israel (CUFI) and Brigitte Gabriel’s ACT! For America, Mike Huckabee spends no time fishing for Jewish souls to convert. He is looking to help us, not humiliate us.
It is not yet certain if he would run for the US presidency against Obama next year. If he were to do so, I would count myself among his army of campaign volunteers.
And for the next person, Jewish or otherwise, who tells me to beware of Christian Zionists trying to help the Jewish nation resettle Aretz-Yisrael or to defend Israel against the Islamic armies, terrorist gangs or Jew-hating street gangs, I will plainly tell that person that I can’t think of anything more disgraceful than sincere offers of help with no strings attached being treated with hostility and contempt. My kind of Jew defends our heritage against Christianity, without antagonizing our Christian allies in our struggle for survival and national fulfillment.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI