US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee defended his description of violent Israeli extremists in Judea and Samaria as "terrorists," saying acts of intimidation, violence and property destruction meet the definition of terrorism.
In a wide-ranging interview with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News, Huckabee was asked about criticism from residents and supporters of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria who were surprised and offended by his use of the term.
"It is terror when you try to change the behavior of people through acts of intimidation, acts of violence, when you burn people's cars and their homes, and when you squat in the homes of people who own their property, and you make them afraid to live there, afraid for their children to play in the yard. You don't have to murder somebody to terrorize them, but you do have to change their behavior."
Huckabee stressed that the violent incidents involve only a small fraction of the Israeli population living in Judea and Samaria.
"There are half a million people living in Judea and Samaria who are Israeli," he said. "There may be, in the best estimates that I have for it, coming from military and police sources, there may be 300, maybe at most 500 people who are engaged in any of this activity."
He added that many of those involved do not actually live in Judea and Samaria and instead enter the region to commit acts of violence. Huckabee argued that the actions of this small group are damaging the reputation of Israel and Jews around the world.
"No one is doing more damage to the reputation of Israel and the Jewish people than this little band of people who are doing criminal acts. These are not acts of just vandalism. This is crime. And when crime terrorizes people, it crosses into terrorism. Vigilantes are people, and I don't support it because that's outside the realm of law, and Israel stands for law and order," he said.
He noted that vigilantes typically seek revenge for an actual crime, while Palestinian Arabs living peacefully in their homes have not committed a crime simply because they are Palestinian.
"So for someone to come and to burn their car and to take over their home, that's not being a vigilante. That's being a criminal, a thug, a terrorist. I take nothing back from that. They need to stop it because what they're doing to the damage of the 500,000 good, decent people in Judea and Samaria is having international repercussions the likes of which they have no idea," he said.
Huckabee also objected to the commonly used phrase "settler violence." "I don't like to use the term settler violence because I say these are not settlers. These are unsettlers who are unsettling the region, making it difficult for the good people who live there to live there in peace and raise their families as Israelis."
Asked about the possibility of Israel applying sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, Huckabee said the decision would ultimately be up to Israel, while cautioning against actions that could further escalate regional tensions.
"I think, ultimately, that's going to be something that'll be up for the state of Israel to decide," he said. "The U.S., I think, would say that there's a time and there's a place."
Returning to the issue of Israeli violence, Huckabee said such actions could ultimately undermine Israel's future prospects. "I'd love to sit down with those people and say to them, do you love your country? Do you love being Jewish? And you're hurting being Jewish. You're hurting the Jews around the world, and you're hurting the state of Israel and its reputation. Tell me one positive thing that comes out of these people going in and burning a person's car, stealing their flocks of sheep, or burning their olive trees down during the olive harvest. One thing. It's going to completely make it very difficult for ever that to be a consideration. Hopefully, what we're going to see is a de-escalation rather than an escalation," he said.
Watch Ambassador Mike Huckabee's full interview later today on Arutz Sheva - Israel National News.