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<\/a><\/p>\nHamtramck, Michigan, mayor Amer Ghalib at his Senate confirmation hearing to become President Trump’s ambassador to Kuwait, Oct. 23, 2025. (Screenshot via YouTube0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But the mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, had to get through Senate approval first. And at Thursday\u2019s confirmation hearing before the foreign relations committee, multiple Republicans broke rank and took Ghalib to task for his past social media posts and actions about Jews and Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt appears you have a deep-felt and passionate view about the Middle East,\u201d Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told Ghalib. \u201cBut it is a view that is in direct conflict with the policy positions of President Trump and this administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cruz grilled the Yemen-born mayor on Hamtramck becoming the first American city to adopt a boycott, divestment and sanctions policy against Israel; on his previous \u201cliking\u201d of Facebook posts comparing Jews to monkeys; and on his past stances opposing the Abraham Accords.<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t the only Republican to take issue with Ghalib. Sens. David McCormick of Pennsylvania and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska also harshly questioned the mayor on his views on Jews and Israel.<\/p>\n
Ghalib did not disavow any of his past stances or posts. The BDS resolution, he said, had been drafted by the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace and approved unanimously by the city council. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t my idea,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have any companies that deal with Israel in our city.\u201d He said he had no power to remove a city council official who had said the Holocaust was advance punishment for Israel.<\/p>\n
He \u201cliked\u201d the Facebook post about monkeys, he said, because he used to \u201clike\u201d every post on his feed before becoming mayor. \u201cThe person who wrote it is mentally challenged in our community,\u201d he said of the post, later adding, \u201cIt\u2019s definitely antisemitism, but clicking on it doesn\u2019t mean I endorse that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, \u2018like\u2019 means exactly that,\u201d Cruz retorted.<\/p>\n
In response to a question from McCormick about whether he would \u201caccept President Trump\u2019s view that Israel is and should be the national home of the Jewish people,\u201d Ghalib dodged. \u201cI think we can coexist in the region and that\u2019s the answer, that everybody has the right to exist now,\u201d he said. \u201cI trust the president\u2019s policies and I will support his policies.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the end of the hearing, Cruz said he would vote no on confirming Ghalib, putting the mayor\u2019s appointment on shaky ground.<\/p>\n
Ghalib had endorsed Trump after previously siding with the \u201cUncommitted\u201d movement that had targeted President Joe Biden\u2019s support for Israel. In a meeting with Trump prior to his endorsement, the mayor said the two had discussed the possibility of a ceasefire in Gaza. Michigan, which has a large Arab population, wound up swinging to Trump.<\/p>\n
A separate nominee at the same hearing, South Africa ambassador hopeful Leo Bozell, pledged to push the country to end its genocide charge against Israel in front of the International Court of Justice.<\/p>\n
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