Christian Zionism Is Not U.S. Policy — Huckabee Forgot That

Mike Huckabee, a former Fox News personality turned political operative, is abusing his role as U.S. ambassador to Israel—and he is doing exactly what America’s first president warned us about.

President George Washington cautioned the nation against any American official who develops an “excessive partiality for one foreign nation.” He warned that such figures would begin to treat dissent as disloyalty, and that true patriots who resist foreign entanglements would be smeared as suspect or un-American. That is not speculation—it is precisely what is happening now.

Huckabee has crossed from diplomacy into ideological crusading. Instead of representing the interests of the United States, he has chosen to attack Catholics and official representatives of the Holy See for daring to question the political theology known as “Christian Zionism.” That theology has now been formally warned against by the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem—the legitimate, historic Christian leadership of the Holy Land.

Let’s be clear: Mike Huckabee is not remotely in the same moral, theological, or historical league as figures like Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, one of the signatories of that statement and a man who actually shepherds Christians living under the consequences of these policies. Huckabee is a politician from Arkansas playing prophet on someone else’s land.

The January 17, 2026 statement from the Patriarchs—representing Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Latin Catholic, Coptic, Syriac, Ethiopian Orthodox churches, multiple Eastern Catholic rites, and Protestant communities—is not “anti-Israel.” It is a sober warning that Christian Zionism is a dangerous political ideology, one that distorts Christianity, fuels conflict, and places foreign political goals above the lived reality of indigenous Christians.

As a Catholic, I fully agree with that warning. The Catholic Church officially rejects Christian Zionism’s theological claims. The Church teaches that Christ fulfilled the Old Covenant and established the New Covenant—not to replace peoples, but to reject the misuse of theology for modern political projects. The Vatican clearly distinguishes between the Jewish people and the modern State of Israel, which it recognizes diplomatically (since 1993) as a political reality—not a theological mandate.

What Huckabee is doing is reckless. He is collapsing U.S. constitutional principles, Christian theology, and American foreign policy into one ideological blur—and then attacking anyone who refuses to applaud.

America is not Israel’s chaplain, nor its permanent political extension. Allies are allies—but permanent entanglements are exactly what Washington warned against. Trade, diplomacy, and temporary cooperation are legitimate. Blind allegiance is not.

No foreign state—and no lobby, theology, or political movement—has the right to define America’s interests for us. When U.S. officials claim our national interests are “100% aligned” with any foreign power, they are not being patriotic—they are being negligent.

Huckabee should remember this: his job is to represent the United States, not to lecture the Church, scold American citizens, or weaponize religion to silence dissent. That line has been crossed. And it deserves to be called out—clearly, firmly, and without apology.