Huckabee to Newsmax: ICC a 'Bad Joke,' Warrants 'Not Funny'

It is "one of the most ridiculous and irrational things" that the International Criminal Court would issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Mike Huckabee, who is President-elect Donald Trump's nominee as ambassador to Israel, told Newsmax on Friday.

"I was outraged," Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "The ICC is a joke, but it's a bad joke, and the tragedy is, it's not funny. It's not funny because they are playing with absolute fire."

The ICC's warrants accuse Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of committing the war crime of starvation, as well as crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts against Hamas after the Iranian-backed group's terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

"Let's remember that 412 days ago, Hamas ran from Gaza into Israel and massacred, they didn't just murder, they massacred Israeli civilians," said Huckabee. "They did it with the intention not only of inflicting the most level of pain, but humiliation. And the result of that has been they still hold hostages, seven of whom are Americans."

President Joe Biden on Thursday condemned the warrants, calling the actions "outrageous."

Huckabee said he is grateful for the administration's stance.

"The Biden administration was very clear in not trying to step back or in any way give any soft answer to this," he said. "They were clear, and for that, I think we can all be grateful."

Meanwhile, Huckabee told Newsmax that he was "overwhelmed" by Trump's nominating him for the ambassadorship.

He said he believes the role, if he is confirmed, will be "one of the most significant tasks that I will have ever had in my life, and an extreme honor."

He noted that he's been going to Israel since he was a teenager in 1973, and he has built significant relationships there.

"Some of the things that the president did in his first term, the Abraham Accords, and so many ways in which he was, I think, supportive of Israel, but not just verbally but demonstrably," said Huckabee. "That's what we need right now. It's what Israel needs."

Trump "understands that Israel is in some ways the centerpiece of the world," he added.

"It's a tiny little sliver of real estate the size of New Jersey, but it's the most contested piece of real estate on planet Earth," said Huckabee. '[Trump] also understands that it is the indigenous homeland of the Jewish people and has been for 3,500 years, and they have a right to exist with freedom and security, and no one has done more to help foster that and to really stand with that than President Trump has."

Huckabee also commented on Trump's pick of former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his attorney general, replacing Matt Gaetz who dropped out of contention for the spot Thursday.

"I've known Pam for many years," said Huckabee. "We have a personal friendship. We both serve on the Kennedy Center Board and had been friends a long time before that. She's great. I absolutely think it was a brilliant choice."

Gaetz also made the right call "by realizing he didn't want to be a distraction," said Huckabee. "Pam Bondi is going to be wonderful, and I think President Trump made a brilliant choice in selecting her."

Sandy Fitzgerald ✉

Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics. 

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