Trump picks Mike Huckabee to serve as US ambassador to Israel

By Kit Maher and Kevin Liptak, CNN

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, a strong defender of Israel who once argued that there was “no such thing as a Palestinian.”

“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, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, served as Trump’s press secretary during his first administration.

Huckabee has been staunchly pro-Israeli throughout his career – including on what he says is the country’s claims to the West Bank.

On Wednesday he said it was “of course” possible that the US would back the Israeli government if it were to try and annex the Israeli-occupied territory.

In an interview on Israeli Army Radio, Huckabee was asked whether the Trump administration would support annexation in the West Bank, known in Israel as applying “sovereignty.”

“Well of course,” Huckabee said. “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 that will continue.”

Israel has occupied the West Bank since seizing the territory from Jordan in 1967. In the decades since, it has expanded Jewish settlements in the area, which are considered illegal under international law, despite signing a series of peace agreements with the Palestinians in the 1990s. Around half a million Israelis live in West Bank settlements.

His selection will come as a welcome culmination of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long mission to shore up ties to American evangelicals.

Huckabee has spent ample time in Israel, and he led a tour in the country for the company Senior Adult Travel Inc. as recently as May, according to the company’s website.

In a video obtained by CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski during Huckabee’s 2015 run for president, Huckabee suggested that if a Palestinian state were to be created, it should be in neighboring countries like Egypt, Syria or Jordan, rather than within Israel’s borders.

“Basically, there really is no such thing as — I need to be careful about saying this, because people will really get upset — there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian,” Huckabee said at a 2008 campaign stop in Massachusetts while speaking to two Orthodox Jewish men. “There’s not.”

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 settlements, 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.”

Israeli officials welcome Trump’s pick

Israeli officials welcomed Trump’s choice of ambassador.

Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is pushing for the annexation of settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, congratulated Huckabee in a post on X.

Smotrich, who is in charge of the settlements, wrote of Huckabee, “As a consistent and loyal friend of the State of Israel and a supporter of the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria, who for many years fought for our state and our right to all parts of the Land of Israel, I have no doubt that we have won and together with him we will strengthen Israel’s security and strength and strengthen our hold in all its spaces.”

Newly appointed Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called Huckabee a “longstanding friend of Israel” in a post on X and said he looks forward to working to “strengthen the bond between our peoples.”

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, also congratulated Huckabee, saying, “I think he will be a great ambassador to Israel.” Dannon said Huckabee is “very familiar” with the facts on the ground and has been to Israel multiple times, including after the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.

Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir also expressed his support. He posted Huckabee’s name to X, followed by emojis of the American flag, a heart and an Israeli flag.

CNN’s Lauren Izso, Dana Karni and Mick Krever contributed to this report.

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