WASHINGTON (CNN): President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has nominated former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to serve as United States ambassador to Israel.
“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!” Trump said in a statement.
Huckabee’s daughter and current Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders formerly served as Trump’s press secretary during his first administration.
Huckabee has been a strong defender of Israel throughout the course of his career – including what he says is the country’s claims to the West Bank.
His selection will come as a welcome culmination of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long mission to shore up ties to American Evangelical Christians.
Huckabee has spent ample time in Israel, and lead a tour in the country for the company Senior Adult Travel Inc. as recently as May 2024, according to the company’s website.
He’s been a supporter of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including laying a cornerstone for a new neighborhood in one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank, just east of Jerusalem, in 2017.
He told CNN’s Oren Lieberman at the time that he rejected the use of the word “settlements.”
“I think Israel has title deed to Judea and Samaria,” said Huckabee, using the Biblical terms for the West Bank. “There are certain words I refuse to use. 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, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There’s no such thing as an occupation.”
