Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has been nominated to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel.
Huckabee has visited Israel more than 100 times over the last five decades.
“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,” President-elect Donald Trump said in a statement. “Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years. 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!”
Huckabee’s daughter, current Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, wrote on X, “Unbelievably proud that @realDonaldTrump nominated my dad @GovMikeHuckabee to be US Ambassador to Israel!”
“I went to Israel for the first time with my dad when I was eleven and it changed my life. There is no one President Trump could have picked with a greater love for the Israeli people and commitment to the unbreakable bond between America and Israel than him. Love you dad!”
The U.S. Ambassador to Israel under the first Trump administration, David Friedman, said he was “thrilled” about Huckabee’s nomination.
“I am thrilled by President Trump’s nomination of Governor Mike Huckabee as the next Ambassador to Israel,” he wrote on social media. “He is a dear friend and he will have my full support. Congrats Mike on getting the best job in the world!”
Israel National News reported that Huckabee took part in an international delegation to see the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. At the time, Huckabee said what he saw in Kfar Aza was “worse than I could have imagined, the unimaginable horror that these people have been through.”
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews said that of the “many Christian friends” of the organization, “none has a passion and calling stronger than that of Governor Mike Huckabee.”
During a Fellowship at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention in Nashville, TN, Huckabee said regarding the relationship between Christians and Israel, “This is a biblical mandate, and we need to stand on it and recognize that we should never ever allow the Jewish people to feel that they’re alone again.”
