Huckabee Campaigns For McCain In Israel

In the wake of the evangelical Saddleback presidential faith forum and just as the veepstakes heat up for the Republican campaign, 2008 presidential candidate ex-Arkansas governor and Baptist minister with a grin Mike Huckabee turned up for his tenth trip to the Holy Land. The timely invitation came from the Jerusalem Reclamation Project, a rightwing New York foundation that urges Jews to settle in the Muslim quarter of the Old City in “undivided Jerusalem.” Huckabee’s visit here lasted 48 hours, 25 percent longer than Barack Obama’s whirlwind trip last month. Huckabee used the extra time to visit Jewish settlements near the controversial security barrier.

Fresh faced at a power breakfast, despite having had only his usual four hours sleep in a suite at the King David hotel, Huckabee chose to ignore the local English language paper, which had hailed the politician as “Huckabee the Maccabee.” This is an Israeli compliment, as the Maccabees were an ancient Jewish national liberation movement that founded a kingdom that held fast for a century, from 164 - 63 BC.