Huckabee calls to “burn the kitchen down” in Iran

Huckabee said that Christians need to understand that they will be the next target of the Islamists.

By Andrew Bernard, JNS

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee suggested on Tuesday that it was better to strike Iran rather than be forced to constantly deal with the Islamic State’s terror proxies.

His comments come as the United States is increasing its military presence in the region amid threats to attack Iran in the wake of the violent repression of anti-government protests there.

“Many plates of poison—Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the Houthis—are being served all out of the same kitchen, Tehran,” Huckabee said in conversation with JNS CEO Alex Traiman at the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism in Jerusalem.

“You can change the menu; better to burn the kitchen down and not let them serve those plates anymore.”

He said that Christians need to understand that they will be the next target of the Islamists.

“You have been the appetizer; we are the entrée,” he said.

Trump as the ‘ultimate pragmatist’

Huckabee said that he sees U.S. President Donald Trump as the “ultimate pragmatist,” who is “always thinking ‘will it work?’ ‘Will it make things better?’”

“He has been the most effective president in my lifetime and the most consequential when it comes to foreign policy,” he said.

Antisemitism on the left

The staunchly pro-Israel Baptist minister-turned ambassador said that the root of Jew hatred was spiritual at its core.

“If you don’t believe there is a God, or that you are your own God, or that the environment is your God, then your first target is naturally Jews,” said Huckabee.

“When people hate God, they’re naturally going to hate the people who, throughout history, from the time on Mount Moriah right here in Jerusalem, represented those whom God first spoke to in a very personal and real way.”

“The root of Jew hatred is not political, not economic, but spiritual,” he said.

Antisemitism on the right

Huckabee, who has not shied away from denouncing antisemites on his own side of the political spectrum, such as conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, said that antisemitism on the right has “grown very rapidly because it is profitable.”

“It doesn’t make sense that a man in his 50s, whom I’ve known for years with a completely different worldview and base, suddenly flipped,” Huckabee said of Carlson.

“What happened? I don’t know. Is it more profitable for him to do what he’s doing now than what he was doing when he was at Fox News? He wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t.”

Unique focus on antisemitism

No single president, either Democrat or Republican, has focused on antisemitism the way Trump has, said Huckabee, citing both Trump’s Jewish daughter and grandchildren and unflinching support for the State of Israel from his first term in office until today.

“Deep down, Trump believes if you bless Israel, you will be blessed; if you curse Israel, you will be cursed,” said Huckabee.