Reform Jewish group expresses concern over Mike Huckabee’s nomination as US Ambassador to Israel, citing his opposition to Palestinian statehood and his Evangelical Christian beliefs – drawing rebuttal from Orthodox Jewish leaders and sharp criticism from American Zionist group.By World Israel News StaffAmerican Jewish groups sparred over the upcoming Senate confirmation vote for President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, pitting Orthodox Jewish rabbis and conservative pro-Israel activists against the Reform Judaism movement.Shortly after his election victory last November, Trump announced that he would be nominating former Arkansas Governor and 2008 Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee to replace the current Ambassador to Israel, Biden-appointee Jack Lew.The announcement drew praise from the conservative Republican base and from Evangelical Christian leaders, who noted Huckabee’s long ties to Evangelical Christian Zionism.Last Friday, however, the Reform Judaism movement expressed concern over Huckabee’s nomination.In a letter penned to all 100 U.S. senators, Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, director of the Reform movement’s outreach arm – the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism – urged lawmakers to reconsider voting to confirm Huckabee as ambassador.Pesner cited Huckabee’s Evangelical Christian beliefs – Huckabee is an ordained Southern Baptist pastor – and noted that many Evangelical Christian Zionists have linked their support of the Jewish state to a “the belief that Jewish sovereignty over the biblical land of Israel will hasten the return of Jesus Christ,” Pesner wrote.“We are gravely concerned by a teaching in which the well-being of Jews, of Israel, and of America are not ends in themselves but means to the fulfillment of Christian eschatology.”In addition, Pesner lamented Huckabee’s opposition to Palestinian statehood, citing his 2008 affirmation that “there is really no such thing as a Palestinian.”“In 2017, Gov. Huckabee denied the reality of Israel’s decades-long occupation of the West Bank. In an interview with Israeli radio that took place after his recent nomination, Gov. Huckabee welcomed the possibility of broader Israeli annexation of the West Bank. Each of these views runs counter to U.S. interests in advancing the causes of peace and regional security,” Pesner warned.On Monday, however, the Zionist Organization of America fired back, castigating Pesner’s letter to senators and defending Huckabee’s nomination.“It is difficult to fathom how anyone who calls himself a Jewish Zionist could oppose Gov. Huckabee’s confirmation,” ZOA President Morton Klein wrote in an open letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.“We were thus appalled by Reform Religious Action Center director Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner’s February 21 letter criticizing Gov. Huckabee.”Klein defended Huckabee’s rejection of Palestinian statehood and support for Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, while savaging the Reform movement’s broad criticism of Christian Zionism.“It is also mortifying that Pesner’s letter maligned the tens of millions of evangelicals and Christian Zionists in the United States.”“Pesner’s letter would establish a dangerous religious test for public office.”Also on Monday, the Rabbinical Alliance of America, representing over 950 Orthodox rabbis across North America, issued a statement defending Huckabee’s nomination and calling on the Senate to confirm the former governor.“Huckabee’s confirmation would reflect the enduring commitment of the United States to its closest ally in the Middle East,” RAA Executive Vice President Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik wrote.The post US Jewish groups spar over Huckabee’s confirmation as ambassador to Israel appeared first on World Israel News.