President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has nominated former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel.
“Mike has been a great public servant, governor and faith leader for many years,” Trump said in a statement. “He loves Israel and the people of Israel, and the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring peace to the Middle East!”
The role, which will need to be confirmed by the Senate, will be a key appointment as tensions remain high in the Middle East.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee moderates a panel discussion with Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump, October 29, 2024, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
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Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, is a strong supporter of the Israeli settlement movement.
“I think Israel has title to Judea and Samaria,” he said during a visit to Israel in 2017, according to CNN, using the biblical names for the West Bank.
“There are certain words I refuse to use. The West Bank does not exist. It is Judea and Samaria,” Huckabee said. “There are no settlements. They are communities, neighborhoods, towns. There is no occupation.”
Former Republican President Donald Trump speaks with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee during a roundtable discussion October 29, 2024 in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP
As a 2008 presidential candidate, Huckabee also said that “Palestinians really don’t exist,” according to Buzzfeed, and suggested that a Palestinian state could be built with land from Arab countries surrounding Israel.
News of Huckabee’s selection comes as the new Trump administration begins to take shape with a handful of picks shared by Trump or reported by ABC News.
