Mike Huckabee defended his Holocaust analogy during his visit to Israel. Photo: Gage Skidmore / WikiCommons.

JNS.org – In Israel on Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee stood by his recent controversial statement that President Barack Obama “will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven” through the Iran nuclear deal.

During a visit to the Jewish community of Shiloh in Samaria, Huckabee blamed the Iranians for invoking Holocaust terminology in the first place.

“It was the Iranians who invoked the imagery and very word Holocaust. They have said that they have developed missiles that will deliver Israel to the Holocaust. Those are their words. Israeli officials regularly remind the people of Israel and the people of the world that the Iranians’ intent is to wipe Israel off the map,” Huckabee said when asked if he regretted his “oven” statement.

“I am concerned that as an American, the second thing that they threaten and chant is that they will bring death to America,” he added.

Huckabee, an Evangelical Christian minister who has visited Israel dozens of times since 1973, was in Shiloh as part of a fundraiser for his presidential campaign.

“I am delighted tonight to be here at Shiloh… It is an exciting place and an important place. It is the place where the Tabernacle once was. It’s a place of biblical history… I am personally happy that we’ve had our event here tonight and hope that it will bring some attention to this wonderful piece of history for people of faith,” Huckabee said.

According to the latest CNN/ORC poll, Huckabee has the support of 4 percent of Republican voters, well behind leader Donald Trump’s 24-percent support.