Mike Huckabee, Trump’s pick to be Israel ambassador, will face senators as war in Gaza restarts

Mike Huckabee, Trump’s pick to be Israel ambassador, will face senators as war in Gaza restarts
President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee will face a confirmation hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill as US and Arab mediators struggle to get a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas back on track. (AP/File)
Short Url
Updated 25 March 2025
Follow

Mike Huckabee, Trump’s pick to be Israel ambassador, will face senators as war in Gaza restarts

Mike Huckabee, Trump’s pick to be Israel ambassador, will face senators as war in Gaza restarts
  • If Huckabee, a Republican, is confirmed by the Senate, his posting will likely complicate an already unstable situation in the Middle East
  • He has spoken favorably in the past about Israel’s right to annex the West Bank and incorporate its Palestinian population into Israel

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel will face a confirmation hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill as US and Arab mediators struggle to get a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas back on track after Israeli forces resumed the war in Gaza last week with a surprise wave of deadly airstrikes.

Trump nominated Mike Huckabee, a well-known evangelical Christian and vehement supporter of Israel, to take on the critical post in Jerusalem days after he won reelection on a campaign promise to end the now 17-month war.

If Huckabee, a Republican, is confirmed by the Senate, his posting will likely complicate an already unstable situation in the Middle East as the former governor of Arkansas has taken stances on the conflict that sharply contradict longstanding US policy in the region.

Huckabee, a one-time presidential hopeful, has spoken favorably in the past about Israel’s right to annex the West Bank and incorporate its Palestinian population into Israel. He has repeatedly backed referring to the West Bank by its biblical name of “Judea and Samaria,” a term that right-wing Israeli politicians and activists have thus far fruitlessly pushed the US to accept.

Most notably, Huckabee has long been opposed to the idea of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian people. In an interview last year, he went even further, saying that he doesn’t even believe in referring to the Arab descendants of people who lived in British-controlled Palestine as “Palestinians.”

“There really isn’t such a thing,” he said on the podcast show “Think Twice” with Jonathan Tobin. “It’s a term that was co-opted by Yasser Arafat in 1962,” referring to one of the early leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

During the same interview, Huckabee described himself as an “unapologetic, unreformed Zionist.”

As the situation in Gaza has deteriorated with the recent collapse of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal, Israeli officials have begun to talk more seriously about re-occupation of the territory, something to which the Biden administration had been adamantly opposed.

Trump has made his own proposals about a potential US takeover of Gaza, which have attracted attention as well as strong criticism from Arab nations and others.

Huckabee will likely be asked about all of these points in addition to ongoing Israeli military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon and persistent threats to the country from Iran and Iranian-backed proxy groups, like the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

In remarks prepared for his testimony, obtained by The Associated Press, Huckabee does not specifically mention either annexation or Trump’s Gaza plan. But he can be expected to offer qualified praise of both, given that he blasts many past Mideast policies as “failed” and speaks of the need to look “at entirely new ways” of promoting peace.

He plans to reaffirm his strong endorsement of Trump’s policies toward Israel during his first term in office, notably his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, his decision to move the US embassy to the holy city from Tel Aviv, his recognition of the Golan Heights as sovereign Israeli territory and his sealing of the Abraham Accords, in which several Arab nations normalized relations with Israel, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

“President Trump’s first term was the most consequential for Israel and the Middle East ever with his historic Abraham Accords, and finally moving our embassy to Jerusalem, the ancient, indigenous and biblical eternal capital of the Jewish people,” Huckabee’s prepared remarks say.

Trump’s pick for ambassador to Panama also testifying

Another nominee testifying before the committee on Tuesday is Kevin Cabrera, Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Panama, a country that has bristled at the Republican president’s repeated calls for the US to retake control of the Panama Canal for national security reasons due to potential threats from China. The status of the canal was one of the top items on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s agenda when he visited Panama City on his first trip as America’s top diplomat in February.

“One of the key aspects of our cooperation is ensuring the security of the Panama Canal, a critical international waterway that facilitates global trade and economic growth,” Cabrera will say according to remarks prepared for the hearing.

He plans to praise decisions by the Panamanian government to withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative and to review contracts with a China-based company that is running ports at both ends of the canal. The company has preliminarily agreed to sell its interests in the subsidiaries that run the ports, but the deal is not yet complete.


From Silk Road to doorways: How Chinese chili peppers became Uzbekistan’s protective charm

From Silk Road to doorways: How Chinese chili peppers became Uzbekistan’s protective charm
Updated 7 sec ago
Follow

From Silk Road to doorways: How Chinese chili peppers became Uzbekistan’s protective charm

From Silk Road to doorways: How Chinese chili peppers became Uzbekistan’s protective charm
  • Chili pepper arrived in Central Asia from China, brought by spice caravans traveling the Silk Road
  • Known as kalampir, it became a dominant folk motif and is believed to have talismanic power

MARGILAN, Fergana Valley: Strung into garlands, hung above doorways, walls, and crafted into traditional textiles and ceramics, red hot chili peppers are a distinctive ornament in Uzbek culture: a legacy of ancient beliefs that made them amulets against the evil eye and demons.

Chilies most likely arrived in Central Asia from China, brought by spice caravans that traveled the Silk Road — the ancient trade network that for hundreds of years linked East Asia with the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Present-day Uzbekistan was a major crossroads on this route, which passed through the Fergana Valley in the east to Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva in the southwest.

In the region’s hot climate, the properties of red chili, which in Uzbek is known as kalampir, were quickly noticed and became valued.

“It not only added flavor to food but also helped preserve it. People noticed that the spice protected products from spoiling. In folk medicine, it was used to warm the body, reduce inflammation, and ‘drive away’ illness,” said Prof. Elmira Gyul of the “Silk Road” International Research Institute, Uzbekistan’s leading center for the study of Silk Road history and material culture.

“Over time, the pepper, prized for its beneficial properties, also acquired symbolic meaning — as a protector not only against disease but also against the evil eye, curses, and malevolent spirits such as jinn and the witch-like albasty.”

Not only the pepper itself but also its image was attributed to hold benevolent magical power. Gradually, it became a dominant motif in folk art, featured in Uzbek embroidery, ceramics, and handwoven palak fabrics, and often appeared alongside other talismanic symbols like almonds, needles, knives, and designs of traditional amulets and protective charms known as tumor or tumar.

“The tradition of depicting chili peppers was especially characteristic of the Fergana Valley, where this motif is found most frequently. This is likely connected to the fact that peppers were introduced to Central Asia from China,” Prof. Gyul said.

“For example, in the collection of the State Museum of Arts there is a Fergana embroidery on gray silk, where the central rosette is surrounded by a protective garland of bright red, meticulously rendered peppers. Interestingly, alongside them appear images of tumor jewelry amulets and stylized Arabic inscriptions, which in folk tradition were also perceived as talismans.”

While kalampir is used in Uzbek cuisine to add flavor and color, it is not a dominant spice or condiment. But chili peppers often appear as protective decoration on ceramic dishes, especially large ones used for communal meals, to safeguard the food from going bad.

Today, the motif of kalampir is most often associated with the famous black skullcap known as tubeteika or doppa, which originates from Chust in the Fergana Valley and is traditionally worn by Uzbek men on special occasions.

The monochrome cap is decorated with chili peppers painted or embroidered in white.

“This was originally a different symbol — the wings of khvarna, the divine blessing in Zoroastrianism, bestowed from the heavens,” Prof. Gyul said. “In the Islamic period, the original meaning gradually faded, and the wings transformed into the image of a chili pepper.”

Although these “peppers” were not kalampir at first, their protective function was already present and continues to this day.

There is a legend about the power of chili peppers that many Uzbek children hear at home. It is about a man who went to the mountains to find food for his family and encountered wolves.

“The only thing that saved him from this bunch of wolves and scared them off was the chili pepper. He came back later to his family with food and a symbol of protection, which then carried on for centuries,” said Kamila Erkaboyeva, a culture and tourism consultant.

“To this day, you will see a doppa hat with kalampir. It’s sharp-edged and something that protects us ... from a lot of things.”


UAE says mediation between Russia, Ukraine secures release of 168 prisoners

UAE says mediation between Russia, Ukraine secures release of 168 prisoners
Updated 22 min 6 sec ago
Follow

UAE says mediation between Russia, Ukraine secures release of 168 prisoners

UAE says mediation between Russia, Ukraine secures release of 168 prisoners
  • This raises the total number of prisoners swapped during the conflict to 4,349

The United Arab Emirates announced on Thursday that its mediation between Russia and Ukraine has resulted in a new prisoner exchange involving 84 detainees from both sides,state news agency WAM reported. 

This raises the total number of prisoners swapped during the conflict to 4,349.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked both Moscow and Kyiv for their cooperation in facilitating the exchange, saying the move reflects their recognition of the UAE’s commitment to supporting efforts to resolve the crisis.

This marks the 16th successful mediation by the UAE since the outbreak of the war.

The ministry reaffirmed that the UAE will continue working to advance initiatives aimed at achieving a peaceful settlement and alleviating the humanitarian impact of the conflict.


UK energy tycoon to keep flying Palestine flag in defiance of ‘shadowy’ legal threats

UK energy tycoon to keep flying Palestine flag in defiance of ‘shadowy’ legal threats
Updated 46 min 7 sec ago
Follow

UK energy tycoon to keep flying Palestine flag in defiance of ‘shadowy’ legal threats

UK energy tycoon to keep flying Palestine flag in defiance of ‘shadowy’ legal threats
  • Dale Vince told by local council to remove flag as Palestine not recognized by Britain
  • Ecotricity boss: UK Lawyers for Israel engaged in ‘pernicious stifling of free speech on behalf of a foreign power’

LONDON: Green energy tycoon Dale Vince plans to keep flying the Palestinian flag at his company’s headquarters, saying a “shadowy” group of pro-Israel lawyers is forcing local authorities to remove them across the UK.

Vince said he would fly the flag at the Ecotricity headquarters in defiance of Stroud district council, which told him he needs to seek permission as Palestine is not recognized by the UK.

He said as Palestine is recognized by 147 countries, the flag counts as a national one — which can be flown without permission — rather than an advert, as Stroud council suggested. 

Vince added that a group called UK Lawyers for Israel may have complained to the council, prompting the request for him to remove it.

“There’s a shadowy group called UK Lawyers for Israel that do complain to councils about flags and to hospitals about pin badges and all kinds of trivia that they don’t like because it’s in support of Palestine and they consider to be racism, which is just an incredible thing to say,” Vince said in the Stroud Times.

“I think what they do is in the shadows, that’s why I say shadowy. They send threatening letters to people that do innocent things like fly a flag, wear a pin badge and that kind of stuff.”

In the local paper, Vince wrote earlier this week: “Nobody ever got asked to take down a Ukrainian flag. With Palestine it’s different and much of this is due to a shadowy group of lawyers acting for Israel.

“They’ve bullied several councils into forcing the removal of flags and into event cancellations — it’s a pernicious stifling of free speech on behalf of a foreign power.”

Vince said no one should feel threatened by the flag, which is being flown “in solidarity” with the Palestinian people.

“What’s been happening these last two years has been exceptional,” he said. “It is genocide, it is ethnic cleansing, it’s daily acts of barbarity against civilians, mass starvation of millions of people.

“I mean it’s off the scale in terms of human abuse and there’s not enough by far being done about it by western nations who have punished Russia incredibly for their invasion and occupation of Ukraine in a recent timescale.

“Half the G7 will recognise Palestine in September and it’s absolutely important that we show our solidarity with the Palestinian people and we show Israel that we can see what they’re doing and we don’t accept it, we don’t condone it. They won’t get away with it, they will be judged for it in the future. It’s an absolute atrocity.”

Vince added: “Obviously what Hamas did on October 7th (2023) was an atrocity but the atrocity visited on Palestine in return in the last two years is off the charts.

“It’s unimaginably bad and this is from a democratic country that we call an ally, not from a terrorist organisation known as Hamas.

“So they’re not comparable and I don’t think anybody that’s Israeli should look at the Palestinian flag and feel threatened. I don’t understand that.

“This is not the flag of Hamas and these are the shadows that UK Lawyers for Israel operate within, conflating the flag of a country with the flag of a terrorist organisation.”

UKLFI calls itself a “voluntary association of lawyers which seeks the application of rules and laws to counter boycotts and other actions targeting Israelis.”

Last year, it succeeded in forcing the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to remove Palestinian flags from local authority buildings, after suggesting that flying them broke the law.

A spokesperson for the group denied it had contacted Stroud council because officials had already contacted Vince to remove the flag when they learned of its presence.

Stroud council said it received complaints from members of the public about the flag, so was “obliged to take (legal) advice on the matter.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the UK will recognize Palestine at the UN next month unless a ceasefire is reached in Gaza before then with commitments to plans for a two-state solution.


Riot police block protesters from approaching Israeli cruise ship in Greece

Riot police block protesters from approaching Israeli cruise ship in Greece
Updated 14 August 2025
Follow

Riot police block protesters from approaching Israeli cruise ship in Greece

Riot police block protesters from approaching Israeli cruise ship in Greece

PIRAEUS: Riot police at Greece’s largest port cordoned off an area around an Israeli cruise ship that arrived early Thursday to prevent several hundred protesters from approaching the vessel.

Protests have been held at Greek islands and mainland ports along the route of the Crown Iris, several of which have led to clashes with police.

At the port of Piraeus, near Athens, on Thursday demonstrators held flares and waved Palestinian flags behind a cordon formed with riot police buses.

Protest organizers, citing online posts from travelers, said off-duty Israeli soldiers were among the passengers.

“They are unwanted here and have no business being here,” protest organizer Markos Bekris said. “The blood of innocent people is on their hands, and we should not welcome them.”

Greece is a popular holiday destination for Israelis. But the ongoing war in Gaza — and global attention on the widespread destruction and severe food shortages — has triggered hundreds of anti-Israel protests in Athens and other Greek cities, as well as a political confrontation.

Left-wing opposition parties are calling on the conservative government to halt commercial and broad military cooperation with Israel.


Poland foiled cyberattack on big city’s water supply, deputy PM says

Poland foiled cyberattack on big city’s water supply, deputy PM says
Updated 14 August 2025
Follow

Poland foiled cyberattack on big city’s water supply, deputy PM says

Poland foiled cyberattack on big city’s water supply, deputy PM says
  • Poland has said that its role as a hub for aid to Ukraine makes it a target for Russian cyberattacks and acts of sabotage
  • Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said Poland manages to thwart 99 percent of cyberattacks

WARSAW: A large Polish city could have had its water supply cut off on Wednesday as a result of a cyberattack, a deputy prime minister said after the intrusion was foiled.

In an interview with news portal Onet on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who is also digital affairs minister, did not specify who was behind the attack or which city was targeted.

Poland has said that its role as a hub for aid to Ukraine makes it a target for Russian cyberattacks and acts of sabotage. Gawkowski has described Poland in the past as the “main target” for Russia among NATO countries.

Gawkowski told Onet that the cyberattack could have meant there would be no water in one of Poland’s big cities.

“At the last moment we managed to see to it that when the attack began, our services had found out about it and we shut everything down. We managed to prevent the attack.”

He said Poland manages to thwart 99 percent of cyberattacks.

Gawkowski last year that Poland would spend over 3 billion zlotys ($800 million) to boost cybersecurity after the state news agency PAP was hit by what authorities said was likely to have been a Russian cyberattack.

The digital affairs ministry did not immediately respond to an email requesting further details.

On Wednesday Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has warned that Russia is trying to drive a wedge between Warsaw and Kyiv, said that a young Ukrainian man had been detained for acts of sabotage on behalf of foreign intelligence services, including writing graffiti insulting Poles.

PAP reported on Thursday that a 17-year-old Ukrainian man detained, among other things, for desecrating a monument to Poles killed by Ukrainian nationalists in World War Two has been charged with participating in an organized criminal group aimed at committing crimes against Poland.