Donald Trump announced the appointment of Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and figure of the conservative Christian right, to the post of United States ambassador to Israel. This appointment, which still requires Senate confirmation, is in line with the pro-Israeli policy adopted by Donald Trump during his previous term. The president-elect hailed Mike Huckabee as a man “adored by the people of Israel” and committed to the return of peace to the Middle East.
Mike Huckabee, 69, is a Baptist pastor turned politician and a fervent defender of Israeli interests, particularly in the context of settlements in the West Bank. In 2015, he declared that he did not consider this territory as “occupied”, but as a biblical region which he calls “Judea and Samaria”, terminology used by Israeli nationalist currents. During a visit in 2017 to the settlement of Maale Adumim, he said: “The occupied West Bank does not exist. There are communities, neighborhoods, cities. Occupation doesn’t exist. »
An appointment welcomed by Israeli officials
His appointment was welcomed by several Israeli officials, reflecting their enthusiasm for a diplomat seen as a loyal ally. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar sent his congratulations on social media, expressing hope that Mike Huckabee would feel “at home” in Jerusalem. Far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich, for his part, stressed that Mike Huckabee is “a supporter of the settlement process” and said he was convinced that he would contribute to strengthening “Israel’s security and our control over all its spaces “.
But this appointment comes in a context of heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. Mike Huckabee went to Kibbutz Kfar Aza in October 2023, after the deadly Hamas attack on Israel, to show his support for the “Jewish people”. Far from being a moderate figure, he embodies a political position aligned with the projects of the Israeli right, in particular the annexation of settlements in the West Bank. Israel Gantz, president of the Yesha Council, the main organization representing the settlers, also welcomed the appointment, thanking Donald Trump for this “good choice”. According to him, Mike Huckabee is an “old friend of the Israeli settlements”.
Canada
