Huckabee defends calling violent settlers ‘terrorists’: They’re ‘pouring gas on a fire’

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee doubled down Tuesday on his description of extremist West Bank settlers as “terrorists,” while denying reports of a clash between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the White House over the next phase of the US-backed plan for Gaza.

Huckabee used the term last week on X, to refer to the settlers besieging several homes in the West Bank village of Qusra. For over a week, the extremists have surrounded the houses in an apparent effort to drive their residents – including an American citizen – to flee. Though ostensibly dispersed by the army, the settlers have repeatedly returned to the site.

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“I’ve been rebuked by people who said, ‘Well, that’s not terrorism,’” Huckabee said in an interview with Channel 12 news.

“But from the US definition of terror, when acts are conducted that cause people to change their behavior, and put them in fear for their lives, when things are done to people for the express purpose, whether they’re done to a nation, whether they’re done to a specific individual or to a family, but it causes them to be afraid to live their lives — that’s terror.”

Huckabee said the perpetrators come from “a very small minority” in Israel and claimed many of them live outside the West Bank, saying, “they’re not settlers, they’re unsettlers.”

“They’re there to stir up trouble and the damage that they are doing to Israel, the damage they are doing to the Jewish people – I have no idea why they think that they’re accomplishing anything other than hurting the very people they claim to be fighting for,” he said.

Referring to the Qusra siege, the ambassador said he believed Israeli authorities were already “acting” to address the incident regardless of the US embassy’s involvement. He noted, however, that “we don’t have a direct involvement if it doesn’t involve an American citizen.”

“But once it involves an American citizen, then our involvement is pretty much automatic and it’s going to be significant because that’s our job,” he said.

Asked by Channel 12 if he was disappointed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet condemned the incident, despite reports that the United States pressed the premier to do so publicly, Huckabee said, “What we’re looking for is responsible action.”

The Qusra siege came amid a months-long surge in settler violence, with near-daily attacks on Palestinians and their property in which arrests and prosecutions remain rare.

Speaking separately with Channel 13 news, Huckabeee said the Office of the US Security Coordinator in Jerusalem has been working in the West Bank to calm tensions. The USSC, established in 2005, focuses on reforming and strengthening the PA security forces and bolstering that force’s coordination with Israel. The international team includes representatives from the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, Poland and Bulgaria, but it is headed by the US.

“We would like to see all those taking part in terror activities face grave consequences,” said Huckabee.

Huckabee denied reports of a confrontation between Netanyahu and US envoy Jared Kushner over the next phase of Trump’s Gaza plan, and stressed that Washington does not expect Israel to conduct pullbacks in Gaza while Hamas remains armed.

“Where do the people get this? I was in the room. I was a part of every conversation. That simply did not happen like that,” Huckabee said of the reported tensions during the Monday meeting.

“There was an agreement, and it was a good agreement, that we all want to see this [plan] move forward, but we also recognize that what the president has made clear is that Hamas must disarm, demilitarize, and they have no future in the governing of Gaza.”

Amid reported and public disapproval from the Trump administration of Israeli strikes in Gaza, Huckabee said that Israel “never backed away” from its endorsement of Trump’s overarching 20-point plan for the postwar future of the Strip last year, and that the sides agree about Israel’s “right to defend itself.”

“Israel has always maintained, and the US has respected, that Israel has a right to defend itself. And if they have an imminent threat, they’re not expected to stand back and take it in the teeth. Nobody expects that of them,” he said.

Asked about Israeli withdrawals under the plan, Huckabee said it has “been clearly understood that Israel is not expected to move their boundaries as long as Hamas has still got arms and RPGs and grenades. That’s the whole point of the disarmament.”

Huckabee’s remarks came amid pushback from Israel over the Board of Peace’s plan to disarm Hamas, which envisions a phased IDF withdrawal from Gaza as the terror group hands over its weapons. Netanyahu has come out against the Board’s framework, insisting that Israel will conduct no withdrawals until Hamas has been completely disarmed.

While Huckabee downplayed disagreement on the issue, sources familiar with the matter have acknowledged to The Times of Israel that the dispute was not resolved during the meeting in Jerusalem on Monday.

One source directly familiar with the negotiations told The Times of Israel that following the Kushner-Netanyahu meeting, the Board was considering a new framework which would see a complete Hamas disarmament and full Israeli withdrawal, but said nothing has yet been finalized.

In the Channel 13 interview, Huckabee was asked to respond to criticism within Israel of Kushner’s recent meeting with senior Hamas officials in Cairo.

He replied that Kushner “didn’t meet with them because he thought that he was dealing with honest brokers, but he needed to convey the message very clearly from the United States: You’ve got to disarm, demilitarize, and you have no future.”

The Kan public broadcaster, which also spoke to Huckabee, asked him about the rise of anti-Israel sentiment in the US among members of both the Democratic and Republican parties in recent years, and whether it was a result of Israel’s own actions.

“They cannot change the voices of people who are antisemitic and hate Israel,” the ambassador said.

“And a lot of this comes from the billions of dollars that’s being spent by the Muslim Brotherhood sponsored entities that fund all of these Middle East studies programs on American campuses,” he continued, going on to blame Russia and China for online misinformation as well.

Asked what could be done, Huckabee encouraged people to visit Israel, and called on Israel to have a more aggressive public diplomacy strategy.

But he added: “Israelis have to be careful not to give ammunition to these critics.” The ambassador again noted the actions of violent settlers, who he said were “pouring gasoline on a fire.”

“Why would you help your enemies hate you more?” Huckabee said.

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