U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee at his inauguration, 21.4.25Haim Goldberg/FLASH90
Afrasianet - Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen has called on U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to resign, accusing him of repeatedly condoning the mistreatment of U.S. citizens by Israeli authorities and of becoming a defender of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's most extreme government in Israel's history.
Van Hollen, in a video posted on social media, said that US citizens have been detained and ill-treated by Israeli security forces, while Huckabee has refrained from condemning these practices or demanding that those responsible be held accountable.
"Under him, we continue to witness the mistreatment and unlawful detention of U.S. citizens," the senator added, referring to the detention of 20-year-old U.S. citizen Sama Safi and 16-year-old American boy Adam Karakrah.
Van Hollen said he and more than 24 U.S. senators have called on Huckabee to hold Israel accountable for the deaths of nine Americans over the past four years, whether by Israeli settlers in the West Bank or members of the Israeli military.
"However, there is no accountability, no justice," he said.
Van Hollen also criticized Huckabee for what he saw as a contradiction between his repeated statements of sympathy for Palestinian Christians and his stance on the escalation of settler attacks on Christian villages in the West Bank.
He said violent attacks on Christian villages had increased, and that their perpetrators were acting with "impunity," referring to Huckabee's response to a question about the attacks by saying he was a Christian and was "fine" in the Holy Land.
Van Hollen said that this response reveals the essence of the problem, explaining that Huckabee's talk about Christians in the Holy Land is a target of Christian visitors, including evangelicals who come on tourist trips that Huckabee himself had previously organized, asking: "What about Christians who have lived in the Holy Land for thousands of years?"
In conclusion of his criticism, Van Hollen accused the US ambassador of "incarcerating" about their suffering, saying that he had "become a full-fledged defender of the most extreme Israeli government in history."
"He should have defended the Americans and American interests. He has failed to do so. He has to resign today."
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