Trump nominates Mike Huckabee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel

President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he is nominating former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel, tapping another pro-Israel stalwart to serve in his incoming administration.

Trump ran for president promising to wind down overseas conflicts, including the war in Gaza that broke out after Hamas attacked Israel last year. Trump began unveiling his foreign policy team Monday when he announced that he would appoint another staunch Israel supporter, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York), to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

“Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years,” Trump said 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!”

Unlike most U.S. ambassadors to Israel from recent administrations, Huckabee is not Jewish.

An ordained Southern Baptist pastor, Huckabee served as Arkansas governor from 1996 to 2007 and has kept a high profile in politics since then - running for president in both 2008 and 2016, when he faced Trump in the primary. There were media reports after the 2016 election that he was poised to become Trump’s ambassador to Israel, though he denied it.

When it comes to the war in Gaza, Huckabee has advocated adopting a hard line against Hamas amid President Joe Biden’s efforts to broker a cease-fire deal that would bring home hostages taken by Hamas and end the war in Gaza. Huckabee said in June that Hamas is “not capable of having an honorable negotiation.”

Huckabee’s daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was White House press secretary during Trump’s first term and now serves as governor of Arkansas.

Mike Huckabee has led dozens of tours to Israel and is scheduled to headline another trip there in February and March. When he visited Israel after Trump’s first election, Huckabee spoke out in support of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, using biblical terms for the region.

“There are certain words I refuse to use,” Huckabee told CNN. “There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria. There’s no such thing as a settlement.”

Huckabee’s comment implies that he views the West Bank as rightfully belonging to Israel rather than to the Palestinians, bucking decades of U.S. policy.

[Trump planning to choose Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state]

While the Biden administration opposed increased Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Trump’s appointment of Huckabee suggests his administration might not condemn such activity. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week named Yechiel Leiter - a hard-line proponent of the war in Gaza who backs West Bank annexation - as Israeli ambassador to the United States after Trump was elected.

After Trump’s latest election, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said “the time has come” to push for full Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.

Huckabee, if confirmed, will take over during a turbulent moment in U.S.-Israel relations.

Trump is a major backer of Israel whose donors include longtime allies of Netanyahu, and he touts himself as the most pro-Israel president in U.S. history. At the same time, he has expressed discomfort with the enormous civilian death toll in Gaza.

During an April interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump said that Israel is “absolutely losing the PR war” and called for a quick end to the war.

“Get it over with and let’s get back to peace and stop killing people,” Trump said. “They have to get it done. Get it over with and get it over with fast because we have to - you have to get back to normalcy and peace.”

Nonetheless, Trump has not criticized Israel’s military tactics in the war or its restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza - but he has criticized the Biden administration for not supporting Israel enough.

It is unclear how Trump might direct Huckabee to address Israel’s deadly multifront conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both conflicts risk a wider war with Iran, which many of Trump’s aides have sought to take a more aggressive stance toward.

Trump’s appointment may also complicate his relationship with American Jews, whom he has repeatedly criticized for not voting for him in large enough numbers.

Huckabee would become the “first non-Jewish Ambassador in 16 years,” said Aaron David Miller, a Middle East expert who has advised Republican and Democratic administrations.

Huckabee has “strong ties to conservatives, Evangelicals and clearly to Trump,” Miller said in a post on X, but whether he relies on Huckabee to deliver sensitive messages “remains to be seen.”

The Republican Jewish Coalition was quick to praise Trump’s selection of Huckabee, nodding to its significance for the war.

“As the Jewish state continues to fight an existential war for survival against Iran and its terrorist proxies, Governor Huckabee will represent America’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s security with distinction,” said a statement from the coalition’s national chairman, Norm Coleman, and CEO Matt Brooks.

J Street - a liberal, pro-Israel nonprofit group - says Huckabee is out of touch with Jewish Americans.

“The mask is off. This announcement is further proof that ‘pro-Israel’ for Trump is totally disconnected from any concern for Jewish values, safety or self-determination,” Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street’s president, said in a statement. “It’s all about what ‘pro-Israel’ means to extremists in the MAGA base.”

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Yasmeen Abutaleb contributed to this report.