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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called out Macklemore for antisemitism on Thursday, saying he supports NFL owners pushing to cancel his performances.
Huckabee made the statement in an interview with Fox News Digital, saying his time living in Israel has shown him that the vast majority of criticisms against Israel are misguided and unfounded.
"It's really unfortunate that Malcklemore has decided that he's going to become the voice, if you will, of Jew hatred, and I don't understand why it's entertainers like him think that it is entertaining to go and take a pro-Hamas position, a position that supports people that viciously raped, beheaded babies, burned elderly people in their wheelchairs and did unthinkable and unspeakable things to innocent civilians as Hamas came across the border from Gaza and butchered, massacred 1200 people, and then took 251 people hostage, including many Americans," Huckabee said.
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"The fact that there's a pushback against that, why not? I think most of us would say that, you know, you have free speech, but that doesn't mean that you can say anything you want anytime you want, anywhere you want without consequences. The people that own these stadiums, the people that have promoted the concerts, weren't promoting a pro-Hamas rally," he added.
Huckabee went on to address reports of rising antisemitism in Canada and calls for President Donald Trump's administration to take on the issue.
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Huckabee referenced a letter sent to Trump by the National Association of Christian Lawmakers earlier this month. The letter called on the administration to allow Jewish Canadians to more easily obtain visas to enter the U.S.
"I think we've all seen and frankly been quite alarmed at some of the extraordinary Jew hatred that is taking place in Canada, and many Canadian Jewish people are really concerned and afraid for their lives. Lives and they fear that they might be the subject of some violent attack or a terror attack. The rhetoric in the country has gotten very, very harsh, and President Trump, as you may remember, took the letter from the NACL and he published it and said that he would certainly look into it," Huckabee said.
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The ambassador also addressed the latest developments in the conflict with Iran, namely the Iran-backed Houthi offensive against Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen.
Asked whether Israel may be interested in assisting Saudi forces in the conflict, Huckabee said Israel has made it clear it wants to improve relations with all of its close neighbors in the Middle East.
"Would Israel be willing to bring some assistance? I think they would. Whether they have been asked? That's something to ask the Saudis or to ask the Israelis. Wouldn't be for me to say what has been done or what has been requested. But there is a growing sense that Israel isn't the problem over here. Israel isn't trying to take anybody else's land," he said.
Fox News' Eric Mack contributed to this report.
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