Has U.S. Policy toward Israel and the Palestinians Changed?

Yesterday, two separate interviews with the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, were published in which he suggested that there has been a radical change in the U.S. policy regarding Israel and the Palestinians. In one interview, published by Bloomberg, Huckabee was asked if the United States continues to support a two-state solution to the conflict. In response, Huckabee was quoted as saying, "I don’t think so". In a second interview, this one with the BBC, Huckabee again played down support for a two-state solution, calling it an "an aspirational goal". Huckabee's remarks call into question the long-standing position of the United States that the Israel-Palestine conflict should be resolved by the creation of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

In a normal administration, major foreign policy changes are announced by the President, or at worst, by the Secretary of State. But the administration of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump is far from normal. Trump's approach to the Middle East has been erratic, apparently influenced more by whomever he has talked with most recently rather than any set of principles. One day Trump wants to expel all Palestinians from Gaza and turn it into a Trump resort; the next he is suggesting that Israel must withdraw from all of Gaza and that no Palestinians will be removed. Trump's primary focus appears to be on reaching a deal with Iran. I am not aware of any recent comments he has made about the West Bank or a two-state solution.

The situation with the Secretary of State is, if possible, even worse. Marco Rubio nominally holds the position, as well as a slew of other titles, but in reality confines himself to deporting college students. Steve Witkoff has taken the leading role in most foreign policy initiatives. However, the U.S. currently lacks a broad foreign policy vision. Instead, administration officials hustle from crisis to crisis, declaring victory as soon as possible and moving on to the next. For example, yesterday, General Michael Kurilla, speaking at a Congressional hearing, testified that, with regard to Yemen, Trump had said, "I want the Houthis to quit shooting at our ships." Kurilla apparently lacked the courage to explain to Trump that, at that time, the Houthis were not shooting at our ships. When the Houthis announced that, in response to Israel's renewed attacks on Gaza, they were ending their ceasefire, they only targeted Israel and did not attack any shipping at all, let alone U.S. ships. During the hearing, Kurilla claimed that Trump's goal had been achieved by U.S. attacks on Yemen. A U.S. general is acting like a return to the status quo that existed before the U.S. attacks is some sort of achievement. Houthi attacks on Israel still continue almost daily. The point here is that we currently have an entire foreign policy and national security establishment that is not grounded in reality, and policies can change day-by-day.

The result of having an incompetent administration is that we actually have no idea what current U.S. policy might be. Is policy regarding a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict being set by the U.S. Ambassador to Israel? When asked about Huckabee's remarks, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce suggested that he is only speaking for himself and said that questions about current U.S. policy should be referred to the White House. Does that mean that the U.S. State Department does not know the current U.S. policy? U.S. support for two states living side-by-side has been around for decades. Former President George W. Bush was the first U.S. president to support the idea, a position that has been held by all subsequent presidents. Now the State Department is unable to say whether or not the policy has been changed. The incompetent spokeswoman was not even curious enough to contact the White House herself and apparently has no idea what current policy might be.

Huckabee also suggested that if there were international support for a Palestinian state, such a state should be carved out of an existing Muslim country, arguing that "Muslim countries have 644 times the amount of land that is controlled by Israel". Huckabee is a Christian nationalist who supports Israel due to, among other things, religious reasons. He apparently sees all Muslims as the same and does not recognize the vast differences between a Palestinian Muslim and, for example, an Indonesian Muslim. Moreover, despite being such a devout Christian, Huckabee appears to have ignored Palestinian Christians. As I went to lengths to stress yesterday, Trump officials are not only incompetent, they are malicious. Why is Huckabee giving Israel a green light to expel the Palestinians from the West Bank? Why is the representative of a secular country arguing in favor of religious states and prioritizing religious sectarianism above secularism? Does Huckabee actually represent American values?

On top of this, there are reports that Huckabee recently intervened on behalf of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who has been indicted for war crimes and is currently on trial in Israel for corruption — to save the Netanyahu government from collapse. Israeli reporter Noga Tarnopolsky reported that Huckabee contacted ultra-Orthodox politicians who were planning to vote against Netanyahu and possibly bring down his government and asked them to support the current government. This is the U.S. Ambassador involving himself in Israeli domestic politics.

The current U.S. Ambassador to Israel appears to support ethnically cleansing Palestinians from their historic homeland, does not believe that the U.S. currently supports a two-state solution, and has intervened in Israeli domestic politics to support Netanyahu. We have no idea whether any of these positions are, in fact, official U.S. policy. If Huckabee is a loose cannon, he should be recalled and replaced. If he is representing current U.S. policy, it would be nice for the rest of us to know that these policies have changed. Apparently, the State Department has no interest.