WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel will face a confirmation hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill as US and Arab mediators struggle to get a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas back on track after Israeli forces resumed the war in Gaza last week with a surprise wave of deadly airstrikes.
Trump nominated Mike Huckabee, a well-known evangelical Christian and vehement supporter of Israel, to take on the critical post in Jerusalem days after he won reelection on a campaign promise to end the now 17-month war.
If Huckabee, a Republican, is confirmed by the Senate, his posting will likely complicate an already unstable situation in the Middle East as the former governor of Arkansas has taken stances on the conflict that sharply contradict longstanding US policy in the region.
Huckabee, a one-time presidential hopeful, has spoken favorably in the past about Israel’s right to annex the West Bank and incorporate its Palestinian population into Israel. He has repeatedly backed referring to the West Bank by its biblical name of “Judea and Samaria,” a term that right-wing Israeli politicians and activists have thus far fruitlessly pushed the US to accept.
Most notably, Huckabee has long been opposed to the idea of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian people. In an interview last year, he went even further, saying that he doesn’t even believe in referring to the Arab descendants of people who lived in British-controlled Palestine as “Palestinians.”
“There really isn’t such a thing,” he said on the podcast show “Think Twice” with Jonathan Tobin. “It’s a term that was co-opted by Yasser Arafat in 1962,” referring to one of the early leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
During the same interview, Huckabee described himself as an “unapologetic, unreformed Zionist.”
As the situation in Gaza has deteriorated with the recent collapse of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal, Israeli officials have begun to talk more seriously about re-occupation of the territory, something to which the Biden administration had been adamantly opposed.
Trump has made his own proposals about a potential US takeover of Gaza, which have attracted attention as well as strong criticism from Arab nations and others.
Huckabee will likely be asked about all of these points in addition to ongoing Israeli military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon and persistent threats to the country from Iran and Iranian-backed proxy groups, like the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
In remarks prepared for his testimony, obtained by The Associated Press, Huckabee does not specifically mention either annexation or Trump’s Gaza plan. But he can be expected to offer qualified praise of both, given that he blasts many past Mideast policies as “failed” and speaks of the need to look “at entirely new ways” of promoting peace.
He plans to reaffirm his strong endorsement of Trump’s policies toward Israel during his first term in office, notably his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, his decision to move the US embassy to the holy city from Tel Aviv, his recognition of the Golan Heights as sovereign Israeli territory and his sealing of the Abraham Accords, in which several Arab nations normalized relations with Israel, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
“President Trump’s first term was the most consequential for Israel and the Middle East ever with his historic Abraham Accords, and finally moving our embassy to Jerusalem, the ancient, indigenous and biblical eternal capital of the Jewish people,” Huckabee’s prepared remarks say.
Trump’s pick for ambassador to Panama also testifying
Another nominee testifying before the committee on Tuesday is Kevin Cabrera, Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Panama, a country that has bristled at the Republican president’s repeated calls for the US to retake control of the Panama Canal for national security reasons due to potential threats from China. The status of the canal was one of the top items on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s agenda when he visited Panama City on his first trip as America’s top diplomat in February.
“One of the key aspects of our cooperation is ensuring the security of the Panama Canal, a critical international waterway that facilitates global trade and economic growth,” Cabrera will say according to remarks prepared for the hearing.
He plans to praise decisions by the Panamanian government to withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative and to review contracts with a China-based company that is running ports at both ends of the canal. The company has preliminarily agreed to sell its interests in the subsidiaries that run the ports, but the deal is not yet complete.
Mike Huckabee, Trump’s pick to be Israel ambassador, will face senators as war in Gaza restarts
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Mike Huckabee, Trump’s pick to be Israel ambassador, will face senators as war in Gaza restarts
- If Huckabee, a Republican, is confirmed by the Senate, his posting will likely complicate an already unstable situation in the Middle East
- He has spoken favorably in the past about Israel’s right to annex the West Bank and incorporate its Palestinian population into Israel
System glitch delays Australian-made rocket launch
- Chief executive Adam Gilmour: ‘If it orbits Earth “I would probably have a heart attack, actually, because I’ll be so surprised, but deliriously happy’
SYDNEY: An Australian aerospace firm said Thursday it has delayed a historic first attempt to launch a locally developed rocket into orbit, citing a ground system glitch.
Gilmour Space Technologies had planned for a first test launch of its three-stage Eris rocket on Thursday but had to postpone until the next day.
“The issue was with an external power system we use during system checks,” communications chief Michelle Gilmour told AFP.
“We’ve identified the fix but ran out of time to implement it and fuel the rocket within today’s launch window.”
The next window for launch is Friday.
The rocket is set to fly from a spaceport near the east coast township of Bowen, about 1,000 kilometers up from the Queensland capital Brisbane.
If successful, it would be the first Australian-made rocket to make an orbital launch from Australian soil.
The 23-meter vehicle is designed to launch small satellites into low-Earth orbit but on the first launch it will carry a jar of Vegemite — a popular Australian toast topping.
Chief executive Adam Gilmour said the firm is not expecting things to go smoothly on the first test.
If it orbits Earth “I would probably have a heart attack, actually, because I’ll be so surprised, but deliriously happy,” Gilmour told AFP this week.
“We’re going to be happy if it gets off the pad — 10, 20, 30 seconds of flight time: fantastic. So orbit is just not in the realm of my belief right now, even though it’s theoretically possible.”
The rocket design is for a capacity of 100-200 kilogrammes , with further upgrades being developed.
Weighing 30 tons fully fueled, it has a hybrid propulsion system, using a solid inert fuel and a liquid oxidiser, which provides the oxygen for it to burn, Gilmour said.
Gilmour Space Technologies is backed by private investors including venture capital group Blackbird and pension fund HESTA.
The company, which has 230 employees, hopes to start commercial launches in late 2026 or early 2027, Gilmour said, and then to rapidly grow revenues.
Newsom floats cutting free health care for some migrants in California
- Wednesday’s announcement dovetails with Newsom’s push to present himself as a fiscally responsible alternative to Trump, while trying to keep pace with the national mood on immigration
LOS ANGELES: California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday proposed eliminating free health care for undocumented migrants in what he said was an effort to balance a budget battered by Donald Trump’s erratic governance.
The move is the latest sign of political moderation from a man believed to have White House ambitions, who is looking to soften his image among conservative voters and dinstance himself from a reputation as a free-spending liberal helming a state where migration is out of control.
Newsom told a press conference that California should freeze admission to the public Medi-Cal program for undocumented people starting next year, and should charge those already enrolled $100 per month.
“We’re not cutting or rolling back those that enrolled in our medical system. We’re just capping it, particularly for those without documentation,” he said.
Almost 11 percent of the 15 million Medi-Cal recipients are undocumented, Newsom said.
In March, the California state legislature reported that opening Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants — which began in 2023 — had cost $2.7 billion more than expected in 2024.
The program’s costs have also been bloated by high drug prices, including a growing demand for weight control prescriptions.
Trimming eligibility for Medi-Cal and cutting back on drug availability could save the state approximately $5.4 billion over the coming years, Newsom’s office said.
He presented the idea as part of an overall plan to make up a $12 billion shortfall in California’s budget.
Newsom said the state’s financial situation was due in part to the impact of President Donald Trump’s volatile tariff policies, which have walloped California, the world’s fourth largest economy, and one that is heavily exposed to international trade and tourism.
The state’s revenues for the first 18 months of Trump’s presidency were expected to be $16 billion lower than they would have been without the volatility, a fall he dubbed the “Trump Slump.”
Economists say the US economy as a whole is expected to take a hit from the uncertainty generated by the sudden policy lurches from the White House, with business leaders unwilling to invest and consumers increasingly wary of spending.
California last month sued the Trump administration over the tariffs, saying the president did not have the ability to impose taxes on imports unilaterally, a power the lawsuit said rests only with Congress.
Wednesday’s announcement dovetails with Newsom’s push to present himself as a fiscally responsible alternative to Trump, while trying to keep pace with the national mood on immigration.
But he faces a tough balancing act in a state where a majority of voters support providing health care to undocumented migrants.
“California is under assault. The United States of America, in many respects, is under assault because we have a president that’s been reckless in terms of assaulting those growth engines,” he told reporters.
“It’s created a climate of deep uncertainty,” he added.
“This is a Trump Slump all across the United States, reflected in adjustments by every independent economist, by leading banks, by institutions.”
Local Republicans hit back Wednesday, characterizing the budget shortfall as Democratic Party overspending that disproportionately benefits migrants.
“I urged the governor to immediately freeze his reckless Medi-Cal expansion for illegal immigrants a year and a half ago, before it buried our health care system and bankrupted the state,” state Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones said.
“With a massive deficit largely driven by this policy, our focus should be on preserving Medi-Cal for those it was originally designed to serve.”
Newsom’s proposal must now go to the state legislature for review.
Hotline between military and air traffic controllers in Washington hasn’t worked for over 3 years
- The Army didn’t immediately comment Wednesday about the near miss earlier this month
A hotline between military and civilian air traffic controllers in Washington, D.C., that hasn’t worked for more than three years may have contributed to another near miss shortly after the US Army resumed flying helicopters in the area for the first time since January’s deadly midair collision between a passenger jet and a Black Hawk helicopter, Sen. Ted Cruz said at a hearing Wednesday.
The Federal Aviation Administration official in charge of air traffic controllers, Frank McIntosh, confirmed the agency didn’t even know the hotline hadn’t been working since March 2022 until after the latest near miss. He said civilian controllers still have other means of communicating with their military counterparts through landlines. Still, the FAA insists the hotline be fixed before helicopter flights resume around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The Army didn’t immediately comment Wednesday about the near miss earlier this month and the steps it is taking to ensure helicopter flights in the area are safe or about the hotline.
The FAA said in a statement that the dedicated direct access line between air traffic controllers at Reagan and the Pentagon’s Army heliport hasn’t worked since 2022 because of the construction of a new tower at the Pentagon. But the FAA said “the two facilities continue to communicate via telephone for coordination.”
“The developments at DCA in its airspace are extremely concerning,” Cruz said. “This committee remains laser-focused on monitoring a safe return to operations at DCA and making sure all users in the airspace are operating responsibly.”
The Army suspended all helicopter flights around Reagan airport after the latest near miss, but McIntosh said the FAA was close to ordering the Army to stop flying because of the safety concerns before it did so voluntarily.
“We did have discussions if that was an option that we wanted to pursue,” McIntosh told the Senate Commerce Committee at the hearing.
Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB and FAA accident investigator, said “the fact that they were unaware that this connection was not working for three years is troublesome.” But he is not entirely clear on the purpose of the hotline when controllers had other ways to communicate.
But Guzzetti thinks the Army needs to be more forthcoming about what it is doing to ensure the airspace around Washington remains safe. Since the crash, the Army has at times refused to provide information that Congress has asked for, and officials didn’t answer all the questions at a previous hearing.
“The DCA airspace is under the white hot spotlight. So the Army’s going to have to be more transparent and more assertive in their dealings with this problem,” Guzzetti said.
According to a US official, one course of action under consideration now is to have the Army give 24 hours notice of any flights around National Airport. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because no decisions have been made and discussions are ongoing.
January’s crash between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 people — making it the deadliest plane crash on US soil since 2001. The National Transportation Safety Board has said there were an alarming 85 near misses around Reagan in the three years before the crash that should have prompted action.
Since the crash, the FAA has tried to ensure that military helicopters never share the same airspace as planes, but controllers had to order two planes to abort their landings on May 1 because of an Army helicopter circling near the Pentagon.
“After the deadly crash near Reagan National Airport, FAA closed the helicopter route involved, but a lack of coordination between FAA and the Department of Defense has continued to put the flying public at risk,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth said.
McIntosh said the helicopter should never have entered the airspace around Reagan airport without permission from an air traffic controller.
“That did not occur,” he said. “My question — and I think the larger question is — is why did that not occur? Without compliance to our procedures and our policies, this is where safety drift starts to happen.”
The NTSB is investigating what happened.
In addition to that incident, a commercial flight taking off from Reagan airport had to take evasive action after coming within a few hundred feet of four military jets heading to a flyover at Arlington National Cemetery. McIntosh blamed that incident on a miscommunication between FAA air traffic controllers at a regional facility and the tower at Reagan, which he said had been addressed.
‘They need to let food to starving kids!’: Ben & Jerry’s cofounder confronts RFK Jr in Gaza protest at US Capitol
WASHINGTON: Ben Cohen, cofounder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and longtime progressive activist, was removed from a Senate hearing Wednesday after confronting Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and lawmakers over US support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Kennedy had been reading prepared remarks about his department’s 2026 budget when activists interrupted the session, chanting “RFK kills people with AIDS.”
Kennedy jumped from his seat in reaction to the outburst.
Cohen then shouted: “Congress pays for bombs to kill children in Gaza,” accusing lawmakers of funding arms by cutting Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income families that Republicans are seeking to slash.
Video posted by anti-war group Codepink showed the 74-year-old in handcuffs as Capitol Police escorted him from the chamber.
“They need to let food into Gaza, they need to let food to starving kids!” Cohen yelled as he was taken away.
A vocal critic of Israeli policy, Cohen last year co-signed an open letter titled A Statement From Jewish Americans Opposing AIPAC, denouncing the pro-Israel lobby’s influence in US politics.
Trump administration scraps Biden-era plan to limit sale of Americans’ personal data
- Consumer Reports said the withdrawal of the data broker proposal would leave consumers “vulnerable to scams and identity theft”
The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is scrapping a proposal issued under former President Joe Biden that would have sharply limited the sale of Americans’ private information by “data brokers,” according to a Federal Register notice issued Wednesday.
The agency also yanked proposals that sought to extend consumer protections to the use of new digital payment technologies including cryptocurrency, and that would have prohibited certain terms in the fine print in consumer finance products.
In a statement, Consumer Reports said the withdrawal of the data broker proposal would leave consumers “vulnerable to scams and identity theft.”
President Donald Trump’s administration has moved this year to decimate the CFPB, initially seeking to shut it down entirely and subsequently saying it can meet its legal obligations with about 10 percent of its current staff. Efforts to fire large amounts of staff are currently on hold as federal courts consider the matter.
Senior officials in recent days have continued undoing much of the prior administration’s work in regulation and oversight. The agency last week withdrew scores of guidance documents issued across administrations since 2011.
In proposing the limits on data brokers in January, former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said the sale of Americans’ private information to data brokers was a “staggering” problem that also jeopardized national security by putting government officials’ privacy at risk.
The CFPB did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, in a Federal Register notice, Russell Vought, the current acting CFPB director, said the proposal no longer aligned with the bureau’s changed policy objectives and its interpretation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
“Further, commenters raised numerous concerns related to this proposed rule that the Bureau believes require careful consideration before proceeding with a final rule,” he said. These included whether the proposal was at odds with federal law.
