Donald Trump has made a great choice by tapping former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel.
Huckabee has built a long record of trust within Israel, having visited (by his estimates) over 100 times over the past 50 years, in recent years leading tours there for Christians.
He has been a huge supporter of Israel’s right to self-defense and has rejected popular media narratives about the conflict between Israel and Palestinians. In 2017, he was at a cornerstone-laying ceremony in Maale Adumim (a Jewish community outside Jerusalem that was branded “illegal” by Israel’s international critics).
As Breitbart reported at the time, he said:
“I think Israel has title deed to Judea and Samaria,” said Huckabee, using the biblical term for the West Bank. “There are certain words I refuse to use. There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria. There’s no such thing as a settlement. They’re communities, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There’s no such thing as an occupation.”
He has also discussed the shared heritage of Israel and America, and sees a strong relationship as vital.
His appointment also serves as a recognition of the deep bond that the Evangelical Christian community has with the Jewish state.