Mike Huckabee Hits a Nerve on Greater Israel

The indignation from Arab leaders over Ambassador Mike Huckabee’s musings to podcaster Tucker Carlson about Israel’s borders strikes is difficult to credit. Our envoy to Jerusalem, in his interview with Mr. Carlson, appeared to approve of Israel expanding to encompass the land promised to the Jewish people in Genesis 15 — a parcel that stretches, Scripture records, “from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.”In other words, the Jews were vouchsafed land “from the (Euphrates) River to the (Mediterranean) Sea,” as the saying goes. “It would be fine if they took it all,” Mr. Huckabee, a man of faith, told Mr. Carlson. Mr. Huckabee then mused that “But I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about here today. They don’t want to take it over, they’re not asking to take it over.” Nevertheless, the Times reports that “Arab governments erupted in fury.”Saudi Arabia thundered that Mr. Huckabee’s remarks “constitute a violation of international law, the Charter of the United Nations and established diplomatic norms.” As if the world body’s constitution, which is honored more in the breach than the observance anyway, trumps Sinai. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia’s territory, the 12th largest in the world, is some 100 times bigger than Israel. The Jewish state is the size of New Jersey.Condemnation also came from Jordan, which called Mr. Huckabee’s comments “absurd and provocative.” Among the critics are Pakistan, Turkey, and Qatar, none of whom have evinced shyness in working to extend their reach beyond their borders, frequently to baleful effects. Hardly any of the countries that got up on their high horses about Mr. Huckabee recognize Israel in its current borders. That is the real scandal.America’s embassy in Israel accused Mr. Carlson of providing “an edited portion of a response.” Said it: “If one listens to the full context, Ambassador Huckabee clearly says that Israel has no desire to change their current boundaries.” The medieval biblical exegete Rashi, though, says in respect of the promise of territory that “The promise of the Holy One, blessed be He, is as an accomplished fact.” The sage Ruth Wisse insists that any discussion of the Middle East be conducted in front of a map of the region, so as to illustrate the relative sizes of Israel and her adversaries. The combined area of Arab nations, say, is some 630 times larger than the Jewish state. Wars of territorial conquest, after all, are a large part of why so much of the region is pledged to Islam. When Israel was founded, some 800,000 Jews were expelled from those lands. The reality is that territories from which Israel has withdrawn have become benighted havens for terrorism and suffering. Witness Gaza, southern Lebanon, and parts of the West Bank that became hotbeds of violence in the wake of Oslo. Now the world is condemning Israel for seeking to extend its sovereignty over that stretch of Biblical heartland. Never mind Vladimir Jabotinsky’s song “Two Banks has the Jordan — This is ours and, that is as well.”Biblical dreams aside, the accusation that Israel is an imperial state says more about those slandering the country than Jerusalem’s intentions. The war that recently ended saw the Israel Defense Forces forced to fight on seven fronts, with armies as far away as Yemen sending missiles into the Jewish state. What stretches to the Nile from the Euphrates — and beyond — is an animus toward Jews. Mr. Huckabee, unlike Mr. Carlson, grasps that truth.

Mike Huckabee Hits a Nerve on Greater Israel

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