Trump picks ‘unapologetic Zionist’ Mike Huckabee as next ambassador to Israel

ISTANBUL (AA) – President-elect Donald Trump has 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.

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 from 1996-2007 and 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.

Huckabee also condemned the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas as “horrific”.

“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.

“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.

– 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, has called for “ultimate Israeli sovereignty” in the West Bank.

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 war on 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.”

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 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.​​​​​​​