Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will moderate a roundtable discussion with then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. President-elect Trump announced in a statement that he would appoint Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, as ambassador to Israel.
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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
President-elect Trump announced Tuesday that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will be appointed U.S. ambassador to Israel.
Huckabee is a longtime supporter of Israel and has criticized the Biden administration’s response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. He has previously spoken out against efforts to negotiate a ceasefire agreement and referred to unauthorized settlements in the occupied West Bank as “communities.”
“Mike was a great public servant, governor, and faith leader for many years,” President Trump said in a statement announcing the move. “Mike loves Israel and the people of Israel, and the people of Israel love him as well. Mike will continue to work tirelessly to bring peace to the Middle East!”
Before running for political office, Mr. Huckabee was an evangelical pastor for many years and led the Israel Experience, which takes tour groups to sites of biblical and historical significance, including the Sea of Galilee, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Old City of Jerusalem. ” regularly leads trips.
In January 2017, days before Trump was first sworn into office, Huckabee spoke in front of a banner in the West Bank pledging to “make Israel great again” and touted the policy changes the Trump administration would bring.
There are words that I refuse to use,” he said, “There is no such thing as the West Bank, it is Judea and Samaria. There is no such thing as reconciliation. They are communities. They are neighborhoods. They are cities. There is no such thing as a profession.”
Huckabee’s selection comes amid Israel’s ongoing conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly claimed that the Gaza war would not have happened if he had been in power, vowed to be Israel’s “protector” if elected, and often criticized Jewish voters who support the Democratic Party. .
