One-on-one with Ambassador Huckabee on what's next for Gaza and the Middle East

Geoff Bennett:

As the Trump administration advances its vision for rebuilding Gaza and reshaping how the territory is governed, uncertainty looms over what comes next as the cease-fire moves into its next phase. Critical issues, from security and humanitarian access to political control, remain unresolved.

Earlier today, I spoke with U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. I began by asking him what success looks like in phase two of the cease-fire and how the administration plans to measure progress.

Mike Huckabee, U.S. Ambassador to Israel: Well, I would tell you it's already working, in the sense that, for the past four months, we haven't had to rush down to the shelter and dodge a ballistic missile.

So the cease-fire itself has been quite successful. Everybody in Israel is breathing a sigh of relief. They're putting their kids to bed at night, tucking them in and not thinking they're going to wake up in the middle of the night to a siren.

All the hostages are back. I think you would have had a hard time convincing anyone in Israel if you would have told them 4.5 months ago that every hostage would be back. As phase two starts, it's going to be a methodical process, but it is under way.

The Board of Peace is established. The technocratic government is being formed. The one big peace that still has to happen is the disarmament of Hamas, but I think that's on the way as well. And it's progress.

Geoff Bennett:

Meantime, the Rafah Crossing has reopened, but the number of Palestinian medical evacuees has been limited. Why is that process moving so slowly?

Mike Huckabee:

Well, it's a difficult thing to get people in and out safely. They have to be properly vetted so that you don't bring terrorists in or take terrorists out.

There's a legitimately diligent effort to get this done. But we're talking about people who are vastly displaced, people who are displaced because Hamas extended this war long before it should have been extended. People are still adjusting to the fact that Gaza is basically a rubble.

Once again, Hamas could have ended this long before the destruction, but they didn't. They wanted to hold hostages and torture them and starve them and make it difficult for them. And I'm hoping that, when they disarm and we get rid of them, things will start progressing much more rapidly.

Geoff Bennett:

You mentioned the president's newly announced Board of Peace earlier. There are critics who say that it effectively sidelines multilateral organizations.

What problem is the Board of Peace meant to solve that existing international organizations cannot?

Mike Huckabee:

Well, the Board of Peace is a different kind of board, in that it is made up of people who have chosen to be a part of it and people who want to actually do some heavy lifting and making Gaza livable again.

I don't know of any other organization internationally that is that committed to doing something right. We saw here in Israel what happened when the United Nations was in charge of the food program. It was absolutely dismal; 92 percent of the food that was supposed to go to people who were hungry ended up getting looted or stolen or hijacked.

And those are the U.N.'s own numbers. That was last summer. So the Board of Peace is supposed to try to make this much more effective and efficient and put people in charge that actually know how to run something.

Geoff Bennett:

Is the administration moving away from the U.N. model altogether?

Mike Huckabee:

I wouldn't say that. I think we recognize -- I'm not a big fan of the U.N.

It seems to be cumbersome, expensive, and not all that effective, but it has its purpose. But there needs to be a much more lean operation in order to get Gaza on its feet. And I think that it's not something that you can just say to nations, say to Iran or North Korea, I'm sure you guys will have a really noble experiment here, and you will want to do it the right way.

So this is going to be a board of people who not only want to be on it, but who, quite frankly, meet the criteria of wanting to do it right.

Geoff Bennett:

On the matter of Iran, have you been briefed on how the talks, the Iran talks, went in Oman today? And we know that the prime minister, Netanyahu, has said that Iran cannot be trusted.

Is there a deal that you believe Iran can commit to?

Mike Huckabee:

That's hard to say.

Geoff, it's something I hope happens. And I told the president the other night, I said, look, nobody would like to see a negotiated peace more than I would, because, if we have a war, I'm going to be right in the center of it. And I would just as soon pass from that. I have been here less than a year as ambassador, been through four wars already.

But will Iran agree to something? And will they agree to what the president has laid fourth, which is, you don't have enrichment, you don't have nuclear weaponry, and you're going to have to deal with this incredible array of ballistic missiles that you keep building up, because you're threatening the world?

And through not just Iran, but their proxy organizations, they have created havoc. And then if you add to that the number of people they have murdered in their own streets because they were protesting the lack of food and water, let's be honest, Iran is a real problem. And it's not just a Middle East problem. It's a problem globally.

Geoff Bennett:

Well, what is the U.S. prepared to do? You have said that the president will not disappoint the Iranians who put their lives on the line as they protest the Iranian regime.

Mike Huckabee:

One thing I'm confident about this president, he makes a promise and he keeps it. He told Iran last summer that they could do it the easy way or the hard way. They didn't listen. They did it the hard way.

And he sent B-2 bombers in through the Operation Midnight Hammer. You would think they'd learned something. I often say that in the South, where I grew up, Geoff, we say there's no education in the second kick of a mule. They got a real kick of a mule last summer. I'm wondering, did they get any education from that one?

If not, they may stand behind the mule again. And there probably won't be much education in the second kick of a mule.

Geoff Bennett:

As we wrap up our conversation here, I wonder. So many Americans, how they currently understand Israel is shaped by its response to Hamas.

What do you worry gets lost about Israel, its society, its values, when the country is viewed almost exclusively through this lens of war?

Mike Huckabee:

I think Americans are pretty naive if they don't understand that Israel had hostages being held in tunnels who were being tortured, starved, raped and beaten.

If America had hostages, and it was the sons and daughters of Americans, do you think we would stand by and just say, well, I hope they could let loose someday? We would be scratching and working, and we would be doing everything we possibly could to get those hostages out.

Israel gets blamed for a lot of stuff. They didn't start the war. Hamas did on October the 7th. And they didn't just murder 1,200 civilians. They butchered them. What I wish Americans would do is to look at this honestly and objectively.

I wish they would understand who is at fault, why it went as long as it did, and ask themselves, if this was your son, your daughter being held in those tunnels, raped and tortured, would you stand by idly, or would you do whatever it took to bring an end to it and get your children home?

Geoff Bennett:

The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, thank you for your time, sir. We appreciate it.

Mike Huckabee:

Thank you, Geoff.