Huckabee’s West Bank message: Condemn violence, defend truth

Mike Huckabee’s message on the West Bank is straightforward: condemn wrongdoing, enforce the law and do not blame an entire society for the crimes of a few.

In a Thursday interview, the US ambassador to Israel denounced violence against Palestinians and demanded consequences for those responsible. At the same time, he said perpetrators represented only a tiny minority of the roughly 500,000 Israelis living in Judea and Samaria. He also defended Israel’s right to build in Area C under the framework of the Oslo Accords.

The editorial argues that these positions belong together. It says international debate often turns an attack by several Jewish extremists into a judgment on “the settlers,” and then on Israel as a whole. Israel’s defenders, it adds, can make the opposite mistake by minimizing lawlessness because Israel’s opponents may exploit it.

Huckabee, in the editorial’s view, rejects both distortions. He condemns violence by Israelis against Palestinians as firmly as violence by Palestinians against Israelis, while refusing to let masked attackers represent hundreds of thousands of West Bank residents who live peacefully there.

The editorial gives particular weight to Huckabee’s decision to visit affected communities. After reports of violence against the Palestinian Christian community in Taybeh, he met residents and called for those responsible for terror and violence to be found and prosecuted. After more recent attacks in Kusra, he again pressed Israeli authorities and used severe language about the perpetrators.

The editorial also applies the argument to construction in E1 and Area C. Israel has moved ahead with marketing the first 1,400 housing units in E1, between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim, prompting renewed condemnation abroad. Supporting Israeli building rights in Area C, it says, does not require excusing intimidation, assault or property crimes against Palestinians.