US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday his intention to appoint former Arkansas governor and pastor Mike Huckabee, a vocal supporter of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories, as the next US Ambassador to Israel.
“He loves Israel and its people, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring peace back to the Middle East!” stated Trump via Truth Social. Trump previously moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018.
Huckabee’s appointment, at 69 years old, requires Senate confirmation, where Republicans hold a majority.
A Baptist pastor turned politician and prominent figure in the Christian conservative right, Huckabee is known for his opposition to LGBTQ+ rights. He twice sought the Republican presidential nomination, including in 2016, when Trump ultimately secured it and won the presidency.
In 2015, Huckabee stated he did not consider the West Bank “occupied territory.” In 2017, speaking from the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, he told CNN, “There is no occupied West Bank. There is Judea and Samaria,” referring to the biblical terms Israel uses for the area. “There are no settlements. There are communities, neighbourhoods, towns. There is no occupation,” he added.
Following the unprecedented attack by Hamas on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, Huckabee visited the Kfar Aza kibbutz, where dozens were killed, to express his support for Israel and the “Jewish people.”
After Trump’s announcement, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar congratulated him, adding, “As a long-standing friend of Israel and our capital, Jerusalem, I hope you will feel at home,” posted on X.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised Huckabee as a “supporter of the settlement enterprise” in Palestinian territories, stating, “I have no doubt that with him, we will strengthen Israel’s security and control over all its lands.”
On Monday, Smotrich pledged that Israel would annex settlements in the West Bank by 2025, which has been under Israeli control since 1967, asserting that it is the “only way” to “eliminate the threat” that establishing a Palestinian state represents, according to him.
Yisrael Gantz, head of the Yesha Council (the main organisation representing Israeli settlers), issued a statement thanking President-elect Trump for his “wise choice” of Huckabee, describing him as an “old friend” of the settler community.
Trump also announced his intention to appoint Steven Witkoff, a New York-based property investor, as the US Special Envoy to the Middle East.
Source: CNA
