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Huckabee in Judea: ‘Trump would be happy to see Jewish development here’

On a visit to Judea and Samaria, Mike Huckabee said that if Trump were there, he would be proud, “because he is a builder…that is his life.”

By: Batya Jerenberg,  World Israel News

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a longtime vocal supporter of Israel, took trowel in hand Wednesday to give a hands-on display of his support for building in Judea and Samaria by laying cement and stone blocks in a wall around a home in a new neighborhood in the city of Efrat.

He also made the specific point of saying how happy he and his delegation were “that the long-time, almost 15 year freeze on construction [in Judea and Samaria] is no longer in place” and that “families looking for a better life can come to wonderful neighborhoods like this.”

With a laugh, he threw in the possibility that he may “purchase a holiday home” there as well.

Standing behind a sign saying “Build Israel Great Again” (a play on President Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again”), Huckabee noted that the American administration was supportive as well. “I think that if President Trump could be here today he’d be a very happy man…because he is a builder…that is his life,” he said.

“I certainly can say that the president would be very proud to see beautiful, wonderful, thriving neighborhoods being built,” he added, before praising Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi for building a community “where people can bring their families and can thrive, their children can be educated, they can be safe, secure, and have a wonderful future.”

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In stark contrast to most foreign politicians, who consider the expansion of “settlements” Israel’s main obstacle to peaceful relations with the Palestinians, the Christian pastor and former presidential candidate stated, “What’s being built here is really a bridge to peace.”

Furthermore, giving jobs to hundreds of Palestinian construction workers that enable them to “have a long-term sense of prosperity” is “the greatest way to peace,” he said.

Huckabee was joined by former White House Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci and other Washington influencers on this trip to Israel, which was sponsored by the National Council of Young Israel.

They have already visited Samaria and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, and will be touring the Golan Heights as well as the areas of the south that have been hit by kite arson and rocket attacks by Hamas activists over recent weeks and months.