In funding the Palestinian Authority the United States is also funding Islamist terrorist group Hamas, and that must stop, says former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
"We should have said 'not another dime' to the Palestinian Authority, if you're going to partner with [Hamas]. It is against the law for us to give money to terrorists. And, that's what we're doing," the Republican told
"Fox & Friends" on Friday.
The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians escalated Thursday when Israeli forces launched a ground offensive into Gaza. Huckabee called the conflict a "tragedy of great proportion," but said it was something "we could see coming."
It was "inexplicable," Huckabee maintained, for the media to portray Israel as the "bad guy" in the border war, since it was Hamas who had "been firing thousands of rockets" into Israel's "civilian populations indiscriminately."
"It was Hamas who drew first blood. It was Hamas who violated two different cease-fire agreements and continued to fire rockets," Huckabee said.
Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday called upon Israel to avoid civilian casualties saying "there's more that can be done." Huckabee called Kerry's statement "idiotic."
"What he ought to be saying is that Israel has every right to defend itself against the terrorism that they have been subjected to. And, I'm just disgusted that they've acted like there is some moral equivalency between Israel and a terrorist organization. That's nonsense," Huckabee said.
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