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Mike Huckabee (file photo)
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| By Israel Insider staff August 19, 2008 |
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Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee on Tuesday praised moves to boost the Jewish presence in Arab areas of Jerusalem through legal property purchases. The Jerusalem Reclamation Project, a New York foundation working to move Jews into the Muslim Quarter of the capital's Old City, won praise from the recent Republican presidential candidate. The foundation, he said, is "going about the process the right way. Not of forcibly taking territory but the old fashioned way of purchasing land and having families move in."
The former governor says he saw no problem with the income gap between Jewish home buyers and poorer Palestinian sellers, saying the difference was "an economical reality" not a political one. "You may have a greater income by Jewish home buyers than East Jerusalem sellers, but it's not unique to Jerusalem," he said. "Mixed neighborhoods are a blessing. It's nice to see how other people live."
Huckabee cited the Biblical basis for his support of the formation of a Palestinian state outside the borders of the Land of Israel, asking: "Why does it need to be on top of the tiny piece of real-estate which was designated more than a hundred years ago to be a national homeland for the Jewish People?" When his conversation with a small group of reporters over breakfast at a Jerusalem hotel was interrupted by his phone's ringtone, he joked that he had just received "the call."
"That's John McCain, calling to ask whether I'll be on his ticket," he teases. "You guys will have a heck of a story." In a more serious moment, Huckabee downplayed rumors that he is on the short list for the Republican nominee's vice presidential slot. "I do not view myself as a candidate for McCain's vice presidency," he said. "I mean, I'd be quite surprised if my cell phone went off at the table and I had to step out and tell him yes. I have no indication that I'm on the list."
Even if McCain never calls, Huckabee's hosts had only praise for their guest. "It was important to invite Huckabee especially since in America, the Democrat hopeful Barack Obama has moved the debate way to the Left," said Dr. Joseph Frager, chairman of the foundation's board. "It moved it out of the realm that even the Kadima party would not understand."
The Jewish Democrat State Assemblyman Dov Hikind from New York, accompanying Huckabee on his visit, cited Huckabee's millions of American supporters in explaining his unreserved support for a member of the rival party in the 2008 presidential elections. "When he speaks people listen," Hikind said.
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