ISTANBUL
In a move underscoring the incoming administration's stance on Israel and Palestine, US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday announced his selection of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a self-declared “unapologetic” Zionist, as the next US ambassador to Israel.
"I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected former Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, has been nominated to be The United States Ambassador to Israel," Trump said in a statement, the latest Cabinet pick since his victory in last week’s presidential election.
Huckabee, 69, has been a "great" public servant and governor for many years, Trump added.
"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 added.
Who is Mike Huckabee?
Huckabee, a former presidential candidate and governor of the state of Arkansas in 1996-2007, as well as a long-time supporter of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, has consistently opposed a two-state solution, favoring Israeli sovereignty over the occupied territories.
During a podcast earlier this year, Huckabee called the land "historically" Jewish and described himself as an "unapologetic, unreformed Zionist."
Huckabee’s appointment aligns with Trump’s pro-Israel policies, including his 2018 decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.
Addressing recent conflicts, Huckabee also condemned the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas as "horrific" and "worse" than past atrocities.
"As horrible as the Nazis were, they weren’t posting their atrocities on social media … Hamas wants everyone to see what they’ve done," he said in an interview with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and an opponent of a Palestinian state, has consistently argued that the West Bank should be considered part of Israel.
"The title deed was given by God to Abraham and to his heirs," Huckabee said recently, signaling his belief in what he calls a "one-state solution" that rejects Palestinian sovereignty in favor of exclusive Israeli control over the contested territories.
"There is no such thing as the West Bank – it's Judea and Samaria. There is no such thing as settlements – they're communities, they're neighborhoods, they're cities. There is no such thing as an occupation," Huckabee said in 2017.
He has also said “there really isn’t such a thing” as Palestinians, calling it “a term that was co-opted by Yasser Arafat,” the late Palestinian president.
Trump’s selection of Huckabee, who once compared the Iran nuclear deal to "marching Israelis to the door of the oven," reflects the administration’s hard-line stance in favor of Israel.
Trump also reversed the US position on the legality of Israeli settlements during his first term, setting a precedent that supports Israel’s right to expand settlements in the West Bank, an area Palestinians claim as part of a future state.
Yechiel Leiter as Israel's US ambassador
Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named Yechiel Leiter Israel’s ambassador to the US. Leiter, a vocal advocate for settlement expansion and former aide to Netanyahu, has called for "ultimate Israeli sovereignty" in the West Bank, stirring concerns about potential annexation plans under Trump’s renewed support for Israel.
The West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, has been a flashpoint in Israeli-Palestinian relations for decades, with Palestinians viewing it as a vital part of their future state. Leiter’s son was killed last year in Israel’s offensive in Gaza – which has killed over 43,000 Palestinians – adding a personal dimension to his advocacy for a hard-line stance in Israeli defense policy.
At the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, Leiter urged US leaders to avoid pressuring Israel, saying: "This is a war of light against darkness, of truth against lies, of civility against murderous barbarism. We’re going to win this one, with you or without you."
Both Huckabee and Leiter’s appointments are likely to embolden Israeli settlement policy and intensify tensions around the Palestinian question in the region.
In a landmark opinion this July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
International law views both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there as illegal.
