Trump appoints former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as Israel’s ambassador

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as the next U.S. ambassador to Israel — insisting the conservative pundit and Baptist minister will “work tirelessly to bring peace to the Middle East !”

“I am pleased to announce that the highly respected former Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, has been nominated as United States Ambassador to Israel,” Trump, 78, said in a statement.

“Mike has been a great public servant, governor and faith leader for many years. He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and the people of Israel love him in the same way.”

A two-time Republican presidential candidate, Huckabee, 69, said he was “still in shock” and “processing” his selection after receiving the offer from Trump himself during a phone call on Tuesday morning, a source familiar with the discussion told The Washington Post was exposed. After.

Huckabee denied reports early in the first Trump administration that he was being considered for the same position, which was filled by then-campaign adviser and attorney David Friedman.

“I am thrilled with President Trump’s appointment of Governor Mike Huckabee as the next Ambassador to Israel,” said Friedmanwho held this role from 2017 to 2021.

“He is a dear friend and he will have my full support. Congratulations Mike on getting the best job in the world!”

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was the first foreign official to praise the decision. post on X: “Mike Huckabee

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Huckabee, who served as governor of Arkansas from 1997 to 2006, will succeed Ambassador Jacob Lew, who served under President Biden.

Israel has just entered its 13th month of war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 people, including 46 Americans.

It was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

That conflict has broadened into a broader regional conflict between Israel and Iranian terrorist organizations, including the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Yemeni Houthis.

Iran and Israel have also exchanged direct missile attacks against each other, causing and causing damage to the Jewish state Tehran’s nuclear siteswhich are reportedly just weeks away from being operational are more vulnerable.

Trump has pilloried Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, both of whom he faced at different times during the 2024 race, for allowing the conflict to happen.

“The war caused by the attack on Israel … would never have happened if I were president,” the former president said during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. “Iran was bankrupt. Iran had no money. Now Iran has $250 billion. They have all made it in the last two and a half years.”

Jewish voters in the US backed a Republican presidential candidate by the highest margins since George HW Bush, data from a Voter analysis from Fox News 2024 and the Jewish virtual library.

About a third (32%) of Jewish voters voted for Trump on November 5.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, currently governor of Arkansas, could barely contain her excitement, posting on X that she was “incredibly proud” of her father.

“I went to Israel for the first time with my father when I was 11 and it changed my life,” said Sanders, who also previously served as Trump’s White House press secretary.

“There is no one President Trump could have elected with a greater love for the Israeli people and commitment to the unbreakable bond between America and Israel than he. I love you daddy!” she added.

The evangelical leader is widely seen as both a Trump loyalist and a staunch pro-Israel advocate who will take over at a critical time.

“There is no better person to represent the American people in Jerusalem right now,” said Sandra Hagee Parker, president of the Christians United for Israel Action Fund, an evangelical group.

“Government. Mike Huckabee believes in Israel’s right to self-determination and defense, not because it is politically convenient to do so, but because these are unalterable tenets of his core beliefs,” Parker said.

“Whether he serves his community as a pastor or his constituents as governor, Huckabee has both the heart and mind for this ambassadorship, and we know he will work tirelessly to ensure that the relationship between America and Israel remains stronger than ever .”

The Republican Jewish Coalition also celebrated the choice, calling Huckabee “a man of deep faith” with an “abundant love for Israel and its people… unparalleled.”

“As the Jewish state continues to wage 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,” the group said in a statement.

“As a longtime friend of the RJC, we know Governor Huckabee will strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship to even greater heights.”

Representatives for Huckabee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.