Mike Huckabee

Remarks During Visit to Taybeh Following Alleged Arson Attack on the Church of Saint George

delivered 19 July 2025, Taybeh, Palestine

[AUTHENTICITY PARTIALLY CERTIFIED. SEE "TEXT NOTE" AT PAGE BOTTOM FOR CLARIFICATION]

Thank you to the people of Taybeh for giving us the opportunity to come and see first-hand some of the things that have happened.

One thing that we strongly agree on is that any desecration to a holy place -- it doesn’t matter whether it’s a church, a mosque, or a synagogue --

it’s unacceptable to commit an act of sacrilege by desecrating a place that is supposed to be a place of worship.

It is an act of terror, and it's a crime. It should be consequenced, and it should be consequenced harshly, because it is one of the last bastions of our civilization: the places [where] we worship.

I myself am a Christian, but I would never desecrate a mosque or a synagogue. Those who would worship in a synagogue should never desecrate a church or a mosque, and those who worship in a mosque should never desecrate a church or a synagogue. It’s that simple.

And what has happened here¹ is an absolute travesty, and it’s my desire to do everything possible to let the people of this peaceful village know that we will certainly insist that those who carry out acts of terror and violence in Taybeh -- or anywhere -- be found, be prosecuted, not just reprimanded; that’s not enough. People need to pay a price for doing
something that destroys that which belongs, not just to other people, but that which belongs to God. That is a sacrilege. It’s against the Holy.

I’m very grateful for the conversation that we were able to have here today. It was a very honest, candid conversation, and we heard things that we needed to hear today. What we needed to hear were the specifics, exactly what has happened. And we were supplied with information that was very helpful, and it was not general, but it was very definite.

I have a lot of our staff here from the Embassy who are with me today, and we come to express solidarity with the people who just want to live their lives in peace, to be able to go to their own land, to be able to go to their place of worship. This is a Christian community, largely, and it’s one that deserves respect and deserves to be treated with dignity. Nothing short of that.

I want to thank the Mayor for his kindness and his hospitality today. The people of the community have been remarkable in their gracious and nice welcome of us, and it means a lot. We leave from here, I hope, with a sense of friendship. We thank you very, very much.

¹ A definitive narrative account remains unsettled, although a preponderance of stories seems to blame Israeli settlers for the 7 July 2025 incident (see, for, example, here, here, here). There are, however, complicating facts. As of this writing, investigations by the Israeli police and others are ongoing.

Original Text Sourcee: https://il.usembassy.gov/statement-by-u-s-ambassador-mike-huckabee/

Original Image #1 Source: Official Twitter account of Ambassador Mike Huckabee

Original Image #2 Source: Nabd ElHaya online radio station via The Times of Israel

Text Note: The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem's online official "statement" from which the text above was largely taken is not a verbatim transcription of Ambassador Huckabee's above remarks -- though it's probably very close -- as a careful comparison between that statement and the video excerpts above indicates.

Page Updated: 7/24/25

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