'Arab Americans for Trump' Leader Calls the President's Behavior 'Not Acceptable' and Mike Huckabee's 'Shameful'

Bishara Bahbah, a mediator between Hamas and the Trump administration, still shied away from outright condemning the president.

Bishara Bahbah on ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’

Palestinian-American businessman Bishara Bahbah, who has served as a mediator between Hamas and the Trump administration and mobilized Arab American voters to elect Donald Trump, says it could take “months” to achieve a permanent ceasefire of Israel’s war on Gaza.

A permanent ceasefire “would take us months to achieve, because a temporary ceasefire – which was much easier – that did not talk about demilitarization of Hamas, took us months,” Bahbah said on Zeteo’s ‘Mehdi Unfiltered.’

Bahbah also came out against Trump’s repeated usage of “Palestinian” as a slur, seen in how the president has described Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former President Joe Biden as “Palestinian” derogatorily.

“It's not acceptable. It is not acceptable,” he said. Still, the Palestinian who worked to elect Trump under the pretense of improving conditions in Gaza stopped short of outright condemning the president, despite Israel’s continued killing of Palestinians and its blockade that caused rapidly-accelerating mass starvation in Gaza.

“There's more at stake right now than there used to be before, meaning I am involved in a process where I could have my views heard,” Bahbah said. “If I go out and condemn the president, do you think he's willing to hear my view?”

‘Shameful’

Mehdi pushed Bahbah on the role he plays, noting that not only does Bahbah serve as a mediator, he also actively helped elect Trump.

Bahbah is chairman of Arab Americans for Peace – the group formally known as Arab Americans for Trump. The group changed its name after Trump’s February comments that the US would “take over” Gaza and create “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

In May 2024, along with creating Arab Americans for Trump, Bahbah had also collaborated with Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany Trump, to establish a political action committee called Arab Americans for a Better America, which spent some $400,000 in support of Trump and the Republicans.

The backer of the “America First” ticket conceded that some results of that effort have been “shameful.”

Mehdi mentioned how, during an appearance on Piers Morgan’s show this week, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said not one word about the Americans who have been killed and detained by Israeli settlers and troops.

“It's shameful, because an American citizen is an American citizen irrespective of their ethnic background,” Bahbah said.

Israeli settler attacks have killed two Americans in recent weeks: 20-year-old Sayfollah Musallet and 40-year-old Khamis Ayyad. The Israeli government, meanwhile, has imprisoned Musallet’s cousin, 16-year-old Muhammad Zaher Ibrahim, for five months in pre-trial detention; Ibrahim has lost 25 pounds and suffered from a bout of scabies.

Whose “Ceasefire”?

Bahbah has served as a non-formal mediator alongside Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. In the past, despite Israel’s repeated pattern of rejecting and deliberately tanking ceasefire deals, Bahbah has blamed Hamas and its “procrastination” for leading to continued bloodshed in Gaza.

Speaking to Mehdi, he blamed both Israel and Hamas for failing to reach a ceasefire.

Bahbah also defended Trump, suggesting that the devastation that has unfolded in Gaza since the January ceasefire broke down was not the president’s fault. He admitted that Israel had broken the ceasefire, but said he “was told” that the ceasefire agreement was “full of holes, and that [it] was the work of the Biden administration,” not the Trump administration.

Mehdi pointed out that Trump took credit for it, pushing Bahbah to clarify whose deal it was. (In February, days after Arab Americans for Peace removed “Trump” from its name, Bahbah himself hailed the MAGA leader, saying he “delivered his promises and got a ceasefire deal done, something that Joe Biden wasn’t able to do.”)

In response to Mehdi, Bahbah walked back his comments, saying that “Israel broke the ceasefire, but at the same time, I believe, I still believe, that the president wants to end this war.”

More than 12,000 Palestinians have been killed by US-backed Israeli forces since Bahbah’s tweet celebrating Trump’s “ceasefire.”

On the ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire, Bahbah said that a temporary ceasefire would be quicker and easier to achieve. He believes both Trump and Hamas are interested in achieving a deal, but had “zero faith in the Israeli government.”

“I don't think that [Israeli leaders] have a shred of concern about the Palestinians, their feelings, their well-being, their humanitarianism, or anything of the sort,” he told Mehdi, noting he has not dealt directly with the Israelis. “[W]hat Israel is doing is shameful. It's unacceptable, and we have to stand up.”

Watch Mehdi’s full interview with Bishara Bahbah: