President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Mike Huckabee, the former Republican governor of Arkansas and an evangelical Christian, as the next US ambassador to Israel.
“Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years," Trump wrote in a statement. “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."
Following the announcement, Mr. Huckabee told Israeli Army Radio that he “won’t make the policy”, but “will carry out the policy of the president”. He emphasised that “there’s never been an American president [than Trump] that’s been more helpful in securing an understanding of the sovereignty of Israel” and cited the previous Trump administration’s
decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and to recognise the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.
Mr Huckabee has criticised the Biden government’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war, saying in March that the Biden administration has "made it very clear they will make concessions to Hamas”.
He’s also previously demonstrated staunch support for Israel. In an interview in 2017, he said: “There’s no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria. There’s no such thing as a settlement. They’re communities, they’re neighbourhoods. There’s no such thing as an occupation."
In 2008, during his presidential campaign, he said: "There’s really no such thing as a Palestinian” in response to a question about the possibility of a Palestinian state existing outside Israel. “You have Arabs and Persians, and there’s such complexity in that. But there’s really no such thing [as a Palestinian]. That’s been a political tool to try and force land away from Israel."
Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, welcomed the appointment, posting his congratulations to “a consistent and loyal friend” on social media platform X.
National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted Mr Huckabee’s name alongside heart emojis.
Huckabee served as governor of his home state of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007 and attempted to become the Republican presidential candidate in both 2008 and 2016.
Between these bids, he had his own talk show on Fox News. Before his political and television career, he was a pastor at Baptist churches in Arkansas.
