From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Huckabee: Netanyahu, Kushner didn’t clash over Gaza, no need for IDF to withdraw while Hamas armed
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleUS Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee denies reports of a confrontation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US envoy Jared Kushner over the next phase of Trump’s Gaza plan, stressing that Washington does not expect Israel to conduct pullbacks in Gaza while Hamas remains armed, during an interview with Channel 12.
“Where do the people get this? I was in the room. I was a part of every conversation. That simply did not happen like that,” Huckabee says of reported tensions in yesterday’s meeting. “There was an agreement, and it was a good agreement, that we all want to see this [plan] move forward, but we also recognize that what the president has made clear is that Hamas must disarm, demilitarize, and they have no future in the governing of Gaza.”
Amid reported and public disapproval from the Trump administration of Israeli strikes in Gaza, Huckabee says that Israel “never backed away” from its endorsement of Trump’s overarching 20-point plan for the postwar future of the Strip last year, and that the sides agree about Israel’s “right to defend itself.”
“Israel has always maintained, and the US has respected, that Israel has a right to defend itself. And if they have an imminent threat, they’re not expected to stand back and take it in the teeth. Nobody expects that of them,” he says.
Asked about Israeli withdrawals under the plan, Huckabee says it has “been clearly understood that Israel is not expected to move their boundaries as long as Hamas has still got arms and RPGs and grenades. That’s the whole point of the disarmament.”
Huckabee’s remarks come amid pushback from Israel over the Board of Peace’s plan to disarm Hamas, which envisions a phased IDF withdrawal from Gaza as the terror group hands over its weapons. Netanyahu has come out against the Board’s framework, insisting that Israel will conduct no withdrawals until Hamas has been completely disarmed.
While Huckabee downplays disagreement on the issue, sources familiar with the matter have acknowledged to The Times of Israel that the dispute was not resolved during yesterday’s Jerusalem meeting.
One source directly familiar with the negotiations told The Times of Israel that following the Kushner-Netanyahu meeting, the Board is considering a new framework which would see a complete Hamas disarmament and full Israeli withdrawal, but said nothing has yet been finalized.
In a separate interview with Channel 13, Huckabee is asked to respond to criticism within Israel of Kushner’s recent meeting with senior Hamas officials in Cairo, and replies that Kushner “didn’t meet with them because he thought that he was dealing with honest brokers, but he needed to convey the message very clearly from the United States: You’ve got to disarm, demilitarize, and you have no future.”
The Times of Israel Community.