Vice President JD Vance’s having to skip a trip to Israel was logistical, not political, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Monday, adding that the decision was not meant as a disapproval toward the nation.
Huckabee debunked the reported notion that Vance’s cancelation of the visit had anything to do with Israel's military escalation in Gaza.
“Well, first of all, the vice president, we had hoped that he could come. And on his way back from the installation of the Pope, that was something we all wanted to see happen. But it was a logistical issue. There were a lot of people that were already here attempting to start groundwork and advance, but quite frankly, it was a scheduling logistical issue, which is not easy to get a vice president into the middle of a war zone,” Huckabee told Newsmax.
“It was not a snub to Israel, and it was not something that was the result of some condition," he continued. "It was simply a matter that while he hopes to come sometime — and I hope it's soon — it wasn't going to be able to be on such short notice,” Huckabee said.
Vance also addressed the reports, saying that the cancelation was due to family and logistics.
“Logistically, it was just a little bit too hard on basic things like, who the hell is going to take care of our kids if we take another couple of days overseas? I'm sure we'll visit Israel sometime in the future, but not today,” Vance said.
Vance supports and is committed to Israel, Huckabee said.
“There's no daylight between our nations in terms of our shared values and security interests. Vice President Vance made clear that he wants to come. It's just a matter of when — not if,” Huckabee said.
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