Washington, DC – US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has become the first official from the administration of President Donald Trump to join global criticism of Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.But as several countries summoned Israel’s ambassadors after Ben-Gvir posted a video of himself taunting abducted foreign activists from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Huckabee’s response rang largely hollow, coming a day after the US Department of the Treasury had sanctioned the flotilla organisers.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listIt was the latest incident underscoring a US double standard towards Israel, Palestinians and their supporters, analysts said, and one that showed the US and Israel increasingly out of step with the international community.“We see a big difference between the US and other Western countries… who see things like freedom of navigation in international waters as a fundamental concept of international law that should be respected, not to mention the mistreatment of civilians,” said Michael Omer-Man, the Israel-Palestine director at the DAWN advocacy group.Huckabee made his comments on Wednesday, shortly after Italy, France, the Netherlands and Canada summoned Israeli ambassadors over Ben-Gvir’s video, which showed detained activists kneeling on the floor with their hands bound, and at times being shoved to the ground.Ben-Gvir is seen waving an Israeli flag, shouting and pointing over the detainees.In a post on X, Huckabee referenced a slew of Israeli officials who have criticised Ben-Gvir for the video, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Foreign …
