Arutz Sheva got the chance to speak with former Arkansas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee at the Israel Day Concert in New York's Central Park on Sunday.
Huckabee recalled his first trip to Israel back in 1973 at the tender age of 17, noting, "I fell in love with the country then...there's a unique kind of spirit that exists in Israel. I know what that spirit is - I believe it's G-d."
Indicating the tension between US President Barack Obama's administration and Israel and referencing the Israel Day Concert, he remarked, "anyone who thinks that the United States is abandoning its support of Israel - obviously they weren't in Central Park today, because they would have found out that there is strong, passionate sentiment to stand with Israel."
The presidential candidate said he couldn't explain why the Obama administration or Europe are showing such hostility to Israel, noting Europe is displaying a new and renewed form of anti-Semitism that is both "unprecedented and frightening."
"Any of us who have studied history should know that we have seen this movie before and it does not end well," he said of European anti-Semitism. He added that in response, those who believe standing with Israel "is what G-d wants us to do" should take a firm stance to back the Jewish state.
He then turned his attention to the much touted "two-state solution," by which Israel would give up its Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria to create a Palestinian Arab state.
The idea of "two governments holding the same piece of real estate is irrational and unworkable, and I think it's time for us to quit playing this pretentious game," he emphasized.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) does not recognize Israel's right to exist as the Jewish state, something which Huckabee said does not allow an alliance to be forged with them.
He noted that the Palestinian Arabs could have their own state - but only outside of the land of Israel.