Over the past few months former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who is rumored to be interested in a run for the presidency, claimed that he knew for sure that President Obamas was raised in Kenya, told a conservative audience that the teachings of Christian make-it-up-as-you-go-along historian David Barton should be mandatory in the public schools - by gunpoint if necessary, and slammed actress Natalie Portman for her unmarried pregnancy.

Within the last couple of days, he got himself in some hot water with the Anti-Defamation League's Abe Foxman. (As of Thursday afternoon, May 5, the hot water apparently cooled quite a bit. We'll get to that later.)

He can't be in trouble with the Jews. How do I know this? Because Huckabee says that he's a good friend of the Jews, and he's a big supporter of Israel. And he appears on Jon Stewart' "Daily Show" on Comedy Central, and after all, Stewart's a Jew!

And, he visits Israel all the time; even leads tour groups. It could be bad for his family business (MDH Group Inc.), which, as a tour operator, charges $4479, everything included, for a trip to Israel. Mike's son David, is the CEO at MDH Group Inc.

Clearly, despite Huckabee's protestations, many in the Jewish community will continue to be upset with him for invoking the Holocaust while speaking about the nation's debt before a National Riffle Association audience.

According to The Daily Beast's Michelle Goldberg, at an NRA meeting in Pittsburgh, Huckabee "spoke of how, at Israel's Holocaust museum, he looked over his 11-year-old daughter's shoulder as she wrote in the guest book, 'Why didn't somebody do something?' Then he said, 'We cannot afford to be a generation that leaves our children with nothing but a huge debt and the very erosion of the freedoms that our founders and our fathers died and gave us so valiantly. And that's why I say, 'Let there never be a time in this country where some father has to look over his daughter's shoulder and see her ask this haunting question: Why didn't somebody do something?'"

As might be expected, Abe Foxman, the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League pounced: "It is highly inappropriate to use America's mounting debt crisis as another occasion to invoke Nazis and the Holocaust, particularly on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, a time dedicated to memorializing, not trivializing, the 6 million Jews and millions of others who perished at the hands of the Nazis," said Foxman.

However, instead of immediately issuing one of those "I'm sorry if anyone was offended" type of non-apologies, Huckabee went on the attack. "Foxman's remarks are not only factually wrong, but they are hurtful to me personally in light of my unequalled friendship with members of the Jewish community, and I ask Foxman to retract his statement as publicly as he issued it, and apologize for his lack of accuracy in issuing it and for the harm done by attacking the very strongest advocates for the Jewish people and Israel," said Huckabee.

"Israel and Jewish people need to make friends, not insult the ones they have," Huckabee said. ""Fortunately, Foxman doesn't represent the vast majority of well-informed friends I have in the Jewish community," he added.

In a statement on his HuckPac website, Team Huckabee said: "Governor Mike Huckabee said today, that the demand of ADL Director Abraham Foxman to apologize for his comments regarding the Holocaust were uninformed and misguided and called upon Foxman to apologize to him and retract his totally inappropriate and reckless attack issued recently."

Interestingly enough, as Salon's Steve Kornacki pointed out, Huckabee has trucked out the anecdote about he and his daughter at the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. It was in Ames, Iowa four years ago and his campaign was in trouble. According to Kornacki, Huckabee "delivered a rousing, emotionally powerful speech aimed straight at the hearts of the (many) cultural conservatives in the crowd. He saved abortion for the end, reminding attendees that 'we are a people of life,'" and then he launched into the story.

"So, to make a point about the debt ceiling at a meeting of gun owners, Huckabee repeated an anecdote about the Holocaust that he'd previously used to make a point about abortion in front of a crowd full of Christian conservatives," Kornacki observed.

Huckabee's insensitivity and hubris is not unique to the Arkansas Governor. It appears to be part and parcel of the kind of Christian Zionism practiced by many leaders on the Religious Right. Who can forget Pastor John Hagee's God sent Hitler to force the Jews to Israel remarks a few years back, and the stink it caused, and then ... silence.

It isn't a coincidence that Hagee, the San Antonio, Texas-based preacher who presides over a multi-million dollar media ministry, also happens to be the founder of Christians United for Israel, probably the most powerful Christian Zionist organization in America. And CUFI is a big-time supporter of the conservative government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

A prominent Christian Zionist, Huckabee figures he can skate by on his so-called support for Israel. A support that has little to do with the true interests of Israel.

Re-enter Abe Foxman: In a statement posted at mikehuckabee.com, Huckabee writes: "I'm happy to report that after a personal phone conversation with Mr. Foxman, it was revealed that he had not heard my actual speech, but depended on news reports. Upon his review of the speech, he agreed that my comments had not certainly trivialized the Holocaust. I'm grateful that the ADL has reviewed my comments and understand that news reports were not entirely accurate and that I remain a steadfast supporter of the state of Israel and its right to an indigenous homeland."

Case closed (for now).

But be warned: Huckabee's can of verbal worms are subject to being opened at any time. That's just the way it is in Huckabee-Land.