'I am doing my job!' Mike Huckabee loses patience as Dem slams him over Gaza flotilla

United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee pushed back Monday against Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who accused him of failing to protect Americans currently being held captive in Israel.

At least 24 Americans were on board the latest embankment of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, a convoy of ships attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gazans amid Israel’s military siege and aid blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Israel has intercepted the Gaza-bound flotilla, however, detaining at least five American veterans along with Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who, according to the Swedish ministry and another activist on board the flotilla, is being tortured while in captivity.

In a video shared on social media Sunday, Hollen said he spoke with relatives of the detained Americans aboard the flotilla, and urged Huckabee – who serves as the United States’ top diplomat as it relates to Israel – to “do his job.”

Huckabee fired back, however, and deflected to criticizing Hollen for what he argued was his role in the ongoing government shutdown.

“Senator I AM doing MY job,” Huckabee wrote Monday in a social media post on X. “Even though these people took a carbon-spewing Hamas-funded boat ride in violation of [international] law intruding into [a] war zone to stand [with] terrorists, [the U.S. Embassy Jerusalem] did meet them & offered assistance. You should focus on YOUR job & end the Schumer Shutdown!”

While nations reserve the right to establish naval blockades in some circumstances, some experts have labeled Israel’s interception of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla as unlawful given that its occupants were detained in international waters.

Participants in the flotilla have also argued their detention to be unlawful, with flotilla spokesperson Thiago Avila pointing to an International Court of Justice provisional ruling that called for the immediate delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gazans, who are now combating famine. The ICC has already indicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes, including using “starvation as a method of warfare.”