U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee marked the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel by calling for the remaining Israeli hostages to be freed in a new deal.
President Donald Trump unveiled his 20-point plan for a ceasefire-and-hostage deal in Gaza on Sep. 29. Arab and Muslim nations embraced the plan, as did Israel, and Hamas provisionally agreed to it late last week.
Huckabee closed by pledging that Israel and the Jewish people “will never stand alone” in the face of terror.
His full statement, posted to X, is as follows:
It was two years ago on Saturday, October 7, 2023 during Shabbat and on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah when Iran-backed Hamas terrorists perpetrated the deadliest attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Hamas shattered a peaceful morning by massacring 1200 innocent men, women, and children and barbarically taking hostage more than 250 into Gaza’s terror tunnels – including U.S. citizens. Hamas’ heinous attack was part of its genocidal goal to destroy Israel and murder Jews in Israel and around the world. Since that day, 1,152 courageous Israeli soldiers and security personnel, including U.S. citizens, have fallen as Israel has fought a multi-front war of survival. May October 7, 2023, forever remind us that evil and antisemitism are not mere metaphors – but brutal realities that God and Holy Scripture enjoin us to combat with all our might.
I came to visit @Israel not long after Oct 7 to show solidarity. I had no idea two years later this nightmare for the hostage families would still exist and certainly did not expect that I would be sent by @realdonaldtrump to be U.S. Ambassador to Israel and be living in Jerusalem. The resolve and resilience of the Israeli people have been inspiring.
Thanks to the tremendous leadership of @POTUS @realDonaldTrump, there is a deal to free the remaining 48 hostages – living and deceased – from Gaza’s dungeons, bring closure to the families, and establish conditions for a lasting peace. We pray and continue to make every effort to bring the 48 hostages, including two U.S. citizens, home so they are reunited with their loved ones.
The United States stands unwaveringly with our close ally and partner Israel because we know in our hearts that it is right. On this day of all days, we renew our pledge to Israel and the Jewish people: You will never stand alone. As @POTUS @realDonaldTrump says – we will always remember and never forget October 7, 2023.
In contrast to Huckabee, Democrats like Zohran Mamdani are using the week to decry the fictitious “genocide” of Palestinians, inverting the roles of perpetrator and victim.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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