Trump Taps Evangelical Leader Mike Huckabee as Ambassador to Israel, Signaling a Stronger U.S.-Israel Alliance
Even before being sworn in, President Trump made a powerful statement with his staff nominations, showing that the US was headed in a new direction. This is true of his choice of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as the next U.S. ambassador to Israel.
“I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected former Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, has been nominated to be The United States Ambassador to Israel,” Trump said in a statement.
“Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years. He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!”
Huckabee is a longtime opponent of the Islamist regime in Iran. Huckabee is a strong supporter of Israel, opposing Palestinian statehood. In a 2015 interview with The Washington Post, he stated, “The idea that they have a long history, dating back hundreds or thousands of years, is not true.”
Huckabee has gone on record as opposing the “two-state solution.”
In 2017, he stated at an event in Samaria: “There is no such thing as a West Bank—it’s Judea and Samaria. There’s no such thing as a settlement. They’re communities, neighborhoods, cities. There’s no such thing as an occupation.”
In 2018, Huckabee attended a ceremony in the Gush Etzion community of Efrat, during which he helped lay bricks and pour cement for new houses. He was so overcome with emotion that he said he may one day come to live in the city.
In 2015, he told reporters during a press conference in Jerusalem that he would only use the Biblically correct term “Judea and Samaria” instead of the inaccurate and racist term “West Bank” used by most media. He also rejected the use of the term “occupation,” saying that “Israel has more of a connection to Judea and Samaria than Americans have to Manhattan.”
In an interview with IDF Army Radio, Huckabee said that the annexation of Judea and Samaria was a possibility under the Trump administration.
“I won’t make the policy, I will carry out the policy of the president, but he has already demonstrated in his first term that there’s never been an American president that has been more helpful in securing an understanding of the sovereignty of Israel — from the moving of the embassy, recognition of the Golan Heights, and Jerusalem as the capital, no one has done more than President Trump and I fully expect that will continue,” Huckabee said.
He was also asked if it was possible that Israel would be able to resettle Gaza, but Huckabee demurred, sidestepping the question.
Mike Huckabee, soon-to-be U.S. Ambassador to Israel:
“There is no such thing as the West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria.”
— Vivid.
(@VividProwess) November 12, 2024
In 2016, Huckabee denied media reports that Trump had offered him the Israel Ambassador position. Huckabee is an ordained Southern Baptist Pastor, noted for his evangelical views. Huckabee has been one of the evangelical Christian community’s most ardent supporters of Israel. Huckabee will be the first non-Jew nominated for the post since James Cunningham was tapped by then-US president George W. Bush in 2008.
Huckabee ran against Trump in 2016 for the Republican nomination. However, there were no hard feelings as his daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, served as Trump’s White House Press Secretary for two years. When she followed in her father’s footsteps and successfully ran for the position of Governor of Arkansas, Trump endorsed her.
She posted a video to Twitter praising her father.
“My dad was just nominated as President Trump’s ambassador to Israel,” she said. “I had the chance to go to Israel for the very first time with my dad when I was 11 years old, and it literally changed my life. There’s no greater supporter and nobody who has a greater understanding of our two nations’ unbreakable bond, and there is probably a little bit of bias, but there’s no one who will do a better job in this role. Congratulations to everyone. I’m very proud of you.”
Huckabee’s first trip to Israel was just after high school before the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He said he has since made “dozens and dozens” of trips to Israel and has brought tens of thousands of Americans to the country.
The Republican Jewish Coalition is “thrilled” with the nomination.
“As a man of deep faith, we know Gov. Huckabee’s abounding love of Israel and its people is second to none,” the RJC said. “As the Jewish state continues to fight an existential war for survival against Iran and its terrorist proxies, Gov. Huckabee will represent America’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s security with distinction.”
David Friedman, who served as the U.S. envoy to Israel during Trump’s first presidency and was reportedly under consideration for the role again, stated that Huckabee is “a dear friend and he will have my full support.
“Congrats Mike on getting the best job in the world,” Friedman wrote.
“It speaks volumes to the importance and priority that President Trump places on the U.S.-Israel relationship that he selected his ambassador to Israel within one week of his election,” Friedman added. “The selection itself—Mike Huckabee is one of Israel’s greatest friends—tells us that the days of public daylight between the U.S. and Israel are about to end.”
Huckabee had criticized the Biden administration’s calls for a cease-fire with Hamas.
Huckabee will replace Biden’s appointee, Jacob “Jack” Lew. Lew, an Orthodox Jew, was the director of the Office of Management and Budget in both the Clinton and Obama administrations. President Biden nominated Lew as the U.S. ambassador to Israel one month before the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis carried out by Palestinian Hamas. Republicans objected to his appointment due to his advocacy for Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that removed economic sanctions from Iran and greenlit its nuclear program.They argued that this made him an unreliable interlocutor with Israel. Lew was confirmed and presented his credentials to President Isaac Herzog on November 5, 2023.
Even before being sworn in, President Trump made a powerful statement with his staff nominations, showing that the US was headed in a new direction. This is true of his choice of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as the next U.S. ambassador to Israel.
“I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected former Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, has been nominated to be The United States Ambassador to Israel,” Trump said in a statement.
“Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years. He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!”
Huckabee is a longtime opponent of the Islamist regime in Iran. Huckabee is a strong supporter of Israel, opposing Palestinian statehood. In a 2015 interview with The Washington Post, he stated, “The idea that they have a long history, dating back hundreds or thousands of years, is not true.”
Huckabee has gone on record as opposing the “two-state solution.”
In 2017, he stated at an event in Samaria: “There is no such thing as a West Bank—it’s Judea and Samaria. There’s no such thing as a settlement. They’re communities, neighborhoods, cities. There’s no such thing as an occupation.”
In 2018, Huckabee attended a ceremony in the Gush Etzion community of Efrat, during which he helped lay bricks and pour cement for new houses. He was so overcome with emotion that he said he may one day come to live in the city.
In 2015, he told reporters during a press conference in Jerusalem that he would only use the Biblically correct term “Judea and Samaria” instead of the inaccurate and racist term “West Bank” used by most media. He also rejected the use of the term “occupation,” saying that “Israel has more of a connection to Judea and Samaria than Americans have to Manhattan.”
In an interview with IDF Army Radio, Huckabee said that the annexation of Judea and Samaria was a possibility under the Trump administration.
“I won’t make the policy, I will carry out the policy of the president, but he has already demonstrated in his first term that there’s never been an American president that has been more helpful in securing an understanding of the sovereignty of Israel — from the moving of the embassy, recognition of the Golan Heights, and Jerusalem as the capital, no one has done more than President Trump and I fully expect that will continue,” Huckabee said.
He was also asked if it was possible that Israel would be able to resettle Gaza, but Huckabee demurred, sidestepping the question.
Mike Huckabee, soon-to-be U.S. Ambassador to Israel:
“There is no such thing as the West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria.”
— Vivid.
(@VividProwess) November 12, 2024
In 2016, Huckabee denied media reports that Trump had offered him the Israel Ambassador position. Huckabee is an ordained Southern Baptist Pastor, noted for his evangelical views. Huckabee has been one of the evangelical Christian community’s most ardent supporters of Israel. Huckabee will be the first non-Jew nominated for the post since James Cunningham was tapped by then-US president George W. Bush in 2008.
Huckabee ran against Trump in 2016 for the Republican nomination. However, there were no hard feelings as his daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, served as Trump’s White House Press Secretary for two years. When she followed in her father’s footsteps and successfully ran for the position of Governor of Arkansas, Trump endorsed her.
She posted a video to Twitter praising her father.
“My dad was just nominated as President Trump’s ambassador to Israel,” she said. “I had the chance to go to Israel for the very first time with my dad when I was 11 years old, and it literally changed my life. There’s no greater supporter and nobody who has a greater understanding of our two nations’ unbreakable bond, and there is probably a little bit of bias, but there’s no one who will do a better job in this role. Congratulations to everyone. I’m very proud of you.”
Huckabee’s first trip to Israel was just after high school before the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He said he has since made “dozens and dozens” of trips to Israel and has brought tens of thousands of Americans to the country.
The Republican Jewish Coalition is “thrilled” with the nomination.
“As a man of deep faith, we know Gov. Huckabee’s abounding love of Israel and its people is second to none,” the RJC said. “As the Jewish state continues to fight an existential war for survival against Iran and its terrorist proxies, Gov. Huckabee will represent America’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s security with distinction.”
David Friedman, who served as the U.S. envoy to Israel during Trump’s first presidency and was reportedly under consideration for the role again, stated that Huckabee is “a dear friend and he will have my full support.
“Congrats Mike on getting the best job in the world,” Friedman wrote.
“It speaks volumes to the importance and priority that President Trump places on the U.S.-Israel relationship that he selected his ambassador to Israel within one week of his election,” Friedman added. “The selection itself—Mike Huckabee is one of Israel’s greatest friends—tells us that the days of public daylight between the U.S. and Israel are about to end.”
Huckabee had criticized the Biden administration’s calls for a cease-fire with Hamas.
Huckabee will replace Biden’s appointee, Jacob “Jack” Lew. Lew, an Orthodox Jew, was the director of the Office of Management and Budget in both the Clinton and Obama administrations. President Biden nominated Lew as the U.S. ambassador to Israel one month before the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis carried out by Palestinian Hamas. Republicans objected to his appointment due to his advocacy for Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that removed economic sanctions from Iran and greenlit its nuclear program.They argued that this made him an unreliable interlocutor with Israel. Lew was confirmed and presented his credentials to President Isaac Herzog on November 5, 2023.
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