Trump picks hardliner Mike Huckabee as US ambassador to Israel

(Patria) - President-elect Donald Trump announced that he has nominated Mike Huckabee as the US ambassador to Israel in his new administration, AFP reported.

"Mike has been a great public servant, governor, and leader in faith for many years," Trump said, referring to the Christian pastor who became a politician. "He loves Israel and the people of Israel, and the people of Israel love him too," he added.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar quickly congratulated Huckabee, who has previously said that "there is no such thing as occupation" when it comes to the Palestinian territories.

"I look forward to working with you to strengthen the bond between our peoples" Minister Saar, Huckabee posted on social media X.

"As a longtime friend of Israel and our eternal capital Jerusalem, I hope to feel at home."

Huckabee (69) ran for the Republican Party's presidential nomination twice, including in 2016 against eventual winner Trump, whom Huckabee quickly endorsed after dropping out of the race.

He has often spoken passionately about his Christian faith and his opposition to gay rights.

Huckabee, whose nomination needs to be confirmed by the US Senate, has regularly traveled to Israel since 1973 and led numerous tours there. In 2017, he attended the expansion of one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank in Ma'ale Adumim, strongly suggesting his support for Trump's views on Israel.

"There is no such thing as the West Bank – it is Judea and Samaria," Huckabee told CNN at the time, using biblical terms for the area.

"There is no such thing as a settlement; these are communities, these are neighborhoods, they are towns. There is no such thing as an occupation."

In December 2023, he visited Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where dozens of Israelis were massacred in a Hamas attack on October 7, and said:

"I wanted to be here to say that I stand with Israel. I stand with the Jewish people."

Huckabee was born in Hope, Arkansas, the same town as Democrat Bill Clinton, who served as governor of the state before becoming president. His daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is the current governor of Arkansas.

She served as Trump's White House press secretary from 2017 to 2019.