Mike Huckabee Just Sent an Ominous Warning to U . S . Staff in Israel

newrepublic.com · Feb 27, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are boiling up, so much so that Trump administration officials are bypassing normal procedure to warn regional embassy staff to leave immediately.In an early Friday email obtained by The New York Times, Ambassador Mike Huckabee announced to nonemergency workers at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem that they would be allowed to leave Israel—but added that if they intend to, they “should do so TODAY.”Huckabee noted that the directive followed meetings and phone calls through the night with the State Department, and that it was made out of “an abundance of caution.” The email made no explicit mention of Iran, according to the Times.The notice “will likely result in high demand for airline seats today,” Huckabee wrote. “Focus on getting a seat to anyplace from which you can then continue travel to D.C., but the first priority will be getting expeditiously out of the country.”The embassy updated its travel advisory for the region in an official statement, prohibiting travel to Gaza due to “terrorism and armed conflict and within 7 miles of the Gaza Periphery,” Northern Israel within “2.5 miles of the Lebanese and Syrian borders due to continued military presence and activity,” and the Egyptian border within “1.5 miles, except for the Taba crossing, which is open.”It also urged travelers to “reconsider” traveling to “Israel due to terrorism and civil unrest,” and the “West Bank due to terrorism and civil unrest.”“Increased regional tensions can cause airlines to cancel and/or curtail flights into and out of Israel,” the memo reads.The order and its timeline are highly unusual—embassy staff are typically provided several days’ notice in order to comply with state-mandated evacuations, with some warnings given as much as a month in advance of the anticipated departure date. In comparison, Huckabee’s 24-hour deadline is shockingly short.The ambassador’s focus on the voluntary departure of nonemergency personnel suggests that the current status of the withdrawal amounts to an “authorized departure.”But those with experience complying with such departures argue that the sudden announcement is a whopping display of disrespect.Since January 22, the United States has built an enormous military presence across a web of U.S. bases in the Middle East for the mere possibility of war, flooding ships—including naval destroyers and aircraft carriers—and more than a dozen jets to the region, reported CNN.On Monday, Trump announced on Truth Social that the potential for war with Iran is still very much on the table. Top U.S. military officials, meanwhile, have reportedly warned the White House against dragging the country into war with Iran, arguing that it could entangle America in a prolonged conflict.U.S. officials, including Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner—Trump’s son-in-law—met with an Iranian delegation in Geneva early Thursday to discuss the countries’ ongoing standoff. An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader told CNN that an “immediate agreement” could be within reach if the discussions singularly focus on Iran’s “non-production of nuclear weapons.”Editor’s PickDemocratic lawmakers slammed Paramount Skydance’s advancing efforts to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, after Netflix announced Thursday that it would back away from the monthslong bidding war to purchase part of the company. Paramount Skydance is owned by Larry Ellison, a Trump megadonor, and run by his son David, who has overseen a right-ward cultural shift at CBS since taking it over last year. If Paramount Skydance acquired Warner Bros., Trump allies would have even greater control over media, including CNN, another broadcast news company that has been regularly targeted by the president.Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren condemned the potential merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. as “an antitrust disaster threatening higher prices and fewer choices for American families.”Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos had visited the White House Thursday, after President Trump demanded the streamer knock Susan Rice, a former Obama administration official, from its board of directors. Shortly after Sarandos arrived for the meeting, WBD announced that Paramount Skydance had offered the “superior deal.” Soon after, Netflix announced that it would back away from the bidding war.“What did Trump officials tell the Netflix CEO today at the White House?” Warren pressed.“A handful of Trump-aligned billionaires are trying to seize control of what you watch and charge you whatever price they want. With the cloud of corruption looming over Trump’s Department of Justice, it’ll be up to the American people to speak up and state attorneys general to enforce the law,” she added. At the federal level, only the Department of Justice could sue to block the deal.New Jersey Senator Cory Booker’s office pushed a reminder to Larry Ellison that he’d previously offered to testify before the Senate if his company’s bid to acquire Warner Bros. proved successful.“In light of today’s announcement that Warner Bros. Discovery has designated Paramount’s offer a Company Superior Proposal, next week’s hearing presents a timely and appropriate opportunity for Mr. Ellison to make good on that commitment,” Booker’s aide told Deadline.Democrats from California also weighed in on the deal that has major ramifications for the entertainment industry.California Senator Adam Schiff said that either company’s efforts to own Warner Bros. would be subject to the “highest level of scrutiny” and should be “free from White House political influence.”“Oligarchy in full effect,” Tom Steyer, a Democratic candidate for governor, wrote on X.Editor’s PickSecretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is boasting that he bullied Scouting America into altering its policies by threatening to remove DOD funding.Hegseth posted a video on X Friday morning saying that the Pentagon would continue supporting the organization after it agreed to several “key reforms,” such as “reviewing and replacing politicized, divisive and discriminatory language throughout the organization, programs, and all publications. No more DEI. Zero.”The Department of War has officially put Scouting America on notice. It’s time to get back to basics — and DoW is leading the charge. pic.twitter.com/EnY9mvaFLX— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) February 27, 2026 Scouting America also will also end its “citizenship in society” merit badge, which a DOD press release claims “made it mandatory for those with the rank of Life Scout to ‘realize the benefits of diversity, equity, inclusion and ethical leadership,’ prior to being allowed to advance to the rank of Eagle Scout.”The organization will restrict itself to only allowing the sex designations male and female, and the sex noted on scouting applications has to match the applicant’s birth certificate. The organization will also introduce a military service merit badge, and will waive registration fees for the children of members of the military, whether active duty, reserve, or National Guard.Hegseth warned that Scouting America had to stick to these commitments, and the DOD plans to “vigorously review” the organization’s progress in six months. If it finds that Scouting America hasn’t lived up to its commitments, the DOD will stop supporting the organization.“We hope that doesn’t happen, but it could,” Hegseth said. “Ideally I believe the Boy Scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts as originally founded, a group that develops boys into men. Maybe someday.”Hegseth and his fellow conservatives had lamented that Scouting America began accepting gay youth in 2013, and ended its ban on gay adult leaders in 2015. It also announced nine years ago that it would accept transgender scouts, and began accepting girls into the Cub Scouts in 2018 and Boy Scouts (renamed Scouts BSA) the next year. Over 6,000 girls have since gone on to reach the top Eagle Scout rank.Hegseth has had the Scouts in his crosshairs for years, saying on Fox in 2024 that the organization “has been cratering itself for quite some time.”“This is an institution the left didn’t control. They didn’t want to improve it. They wanted to destroy it or dilute it into something that stood for nothing,” Hegseth said at the time. In November, a draft memo written by Hegseth to Congress first floated the idea of ending DOD support for Scouting America. Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced that it was reviewing its relationship with the organization.Now, Hegseth has gotten Scouts to cave, at the expense of young people whose presence in the organization will be discouraged. A service organization with a strong history and reputation in the U.S. is now effectively in the Trump administration’s pocket. Editor’s Pick:The Pentagon used a laser to accidentally shoot a Customs and Border Protections drone out of the sky in Texas on Thursday.“This reported engagement occurred when the Department of War employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace,” the Pentagon, CBP, and the Federal Aviation Administration said in a joint statement. “These agencies will continue to work on increased cooperation and communication to prevent such incidents in the future.”The statement failed to mention that the “unmanned aerial system” the Pentagon shot down belonged to the U.S. government.This incident, occurring just weeks after the CBP shut down El Paso airspace to shoot down some party balloons, continues to highlight the brash, reckless, and overly gung-ho mentality that has come to define the Pentagon in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s tenure.“Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a high-risk counter-unmanned aircraft system,” ranking House Committee on Homeland Security member Bennie G. Thompson and other Democrats said in a joint statement. “We said MONTHS ag