President-elect Donald Trump said he intends to nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel, a high-profile diplomatic posting in a tumultuous region.
Huckabee, if confirmed, would be the first non-Jewish person to hold the role since 2011. He would arrive in Jerusalem to face conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon that have raged for more than a year. On the campaign trail, Trump, a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed to end the conflict.
Peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas have stalled in recent days after Qatar pulled out of its mediation efforts. Huckabee would most likely be at the center of international pressure on the U.S. to help broker a cease-fire deal.
Trump’s announcement Tuesday on Truth Social elevated a longtime loyalist and rival for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. Huckabee, the host of a namesake television talk show, campaigned for Trump this election cycle, hitting the trail with him, including in battleground Pennsylvania in the final throes of the race.
“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.
“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!”
In a statement congratulating Huckabee, the Republican Jewish Coalition praised him as "a long-time friend" of the group, focusing on his "abounding love of Israel" and promising his appointment would "strengthen the US-Israel relationship to even greater heights."
Huckabee's daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the current governor of Arkansas and a former Trump administration official, was also a top surrogate for Trump. The elder Huckabee, 69, was governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007.
During his 2016 presidential run, Huckabee staked out an arch-conservative position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rejecting the notion of an "occupied" West Bank. Instead, he referred to the area using the biblical term “Judea and Samaria.”
At the time, received earned the Adelson Defender of Israel award at a Zionist Organization of America dinner in New York. Miriam Adelson, the widow of Sheldon Adelson, remains a top Trump donor, and she gave lavishly to his 2024 campaign.
Top Israeli officials celebrated the news later Tuesday.
Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa’ar congratulated Huckabee on X, saying, "As a longstanding friend of Israel and our eternal capital Jerusalem — I hope you will feel very much at home."
During his first term, Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved the U.S. Embassy to the city from Tel Aviv, fulfilling a controversial campaign promise. He also brokered bilateral agreements to normalize relations among Israel and Arab nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Bahrain.
Now, Trump has promised to bring lasting peace to the region and to "stop wars" amid a raging humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and a conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The war in Gaza has ground on since Hamas militants launched a deadly assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’ attack and over 250 were taken hostage, including American citizens. Over 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the outbreak of the war, according to Gaza health officials.
In a separate statement Tuesday, Trump announced he would appoint businessman Steve Witkoff, who founded a namesake real estate company in 1997, to be his special envoy to the Middle East.
Witkoff, who spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, is a longtime friend and political donor of Trump's. The two were golfing together in September during the second attempt on Trump's life.
Witkoff also attended Netanyahu’s address to Congress in July.
