No one can argue with the need to pressure Hamas, which is responsible for one of the most horrific massacres in recent times and so much human suffering since. But Huckabee’s message was also shockingly problematic: By linking U.S. support for humanitarian assistance in Gaza to the goal of Hamas’s capitulation, he was officially endorsing a policy of collective punishment that is inconsistent with U.S. and international law, offensive to American values, and counterproductive to Washington’s foreign-policy goals.
The new U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, posted a videotaped statement about U.S. policy on Gaza last week. In his familiar, avuncular tone, the former governor related how he had just rejected an appeal from Hanan Balkhy, a physician and senior World Health Organization official, to put more pressure on Israel to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. Instead, Huckabee told Balkhy that we should focus on “putting the pressure where it really belongs”—on Hamas—to “give us the opportunity” to open up channels for humanitarian assistance.
The new U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, posted a videotaped statement about U.S. policy on Gaza last week.
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