JERUSALEM — He’s quipped more than once that President Donald Trump misheard Israel’s request for a “Maccabee” — an ancient Jewish warrior — and instead sent a “Huckabee.”
But U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says his devotion to Israel, and conviction that he is carrying out God’s work in the Holy Land, is no joke.
“We share a value system that is rooted deeply in a biblical understanding of a worldview that says that the individual is important,” the Baptist minister, 70, said of Israel and the U.S. during a wide-ranging interview with NBC News last week. “That is, in my mind, the very essence of Western civilization. And it is on that platform that both the United States and Israel are built and that puts us in a very, very special relationship.”
Huckabee’s strong ties to Israel were forged during more than 100 visits to the country before his appointment and are grounded in a belief that God commanded Jewish sovereignty over their biblical homeland.
His ambassadorship could end up being deeply consequential. Not only was it a win for the evangelical Christian community, a vital part of Trump’s base, but it was also a boon to Israel’s far-right government as it faces unprecedented criticism for its war in the Gaza Strip. His stances in just over six months in Israel have hewn closely to the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s, even as Trump expresses occasional unease with the close U.S. ally’s conduct.
In July, images of badly emaciated children in Gaza prompted Trump to acknowledge “real starvation” in the enclave — a break with Netanyahu, who maintained there was no starvation.
The following month, on Aug. 22, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the world’s leading body on hunger, officially declared famine in part of northern Gaza, including Gaza City. For months before that announcement, international humanitarian organizations had warned that the trickle of aid Israel had allowed into the enclave wasn’t nearly enough to feed its population of 2.1 million.
Acute malnutrition and starvation surged in Gaza in the past few months, according to aid groups and NBC News’ crew in the enclave, who spoke with health workers and families. These interviewees described a growing number of children dying from a lack of adequate food. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 361 people have died due to malnutrition, including 130 children.
Huckabee told NBC News that while there were hungry people in Gaza, he thought “there is a big mistake in saying there is massive starvation and it’s Israel’s fault.”
The ambassador, who wore a yellow ribbon pin on his suit jacket lapel in support of the hostages held in Gaza, said the hostages were starving, “and I wish there was a little more attention focused on them.”
Israel has also challenged the IPC’s methodology and findings, which it called a “lie,” maintaining that it was allowing enough aid into Gaza but claiming Hamas was commandeering much of it. The IPC has denied that it changed its methodology.
While past U.S. presidents and administrations have criticized the government of Israel, America has for decades been a fierce defender of the country and provided billions of dollars in military aid. Trump is among Israel’s staunchest supporters, backing Israel’s military actions in Gaza even while calling for an end to the war. Meanwhile his special envoy Steve Witkoff has led American efforts to broker a ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
On Aug. 26, Trump said the Israel-Hamas war would reach a “conclusive ending” soon, adding that a big “diplomatic push” was underway.
Israel nonetheless continued military operations in the enclave and last month announced a new offensive in northern Gaza, adding to a death toll that Palestinian health officials say has reached close to 65,000 since. Israel launched its military campaign after the Hamas-led terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, which saw 1,200 people killed and over 250 people taken hostage. Of the 12 hostages who were Americans, the remains of two are believed to still be held in Gaza.
“We are connected to Israel through this war, because it was not just Israel that was attacked, Americans were,” Huckabee said.
When asked how he squared Trump’s two-to-three-week timeline to end the war with Israel’s military offensive against Gaza City, Huckabee was vague.
“I don’t have a clear understanding of how it all plays out. I know that the president would have liked for this to have ended 22 months ago, but I am confident that the Israelis would have liked for it to have ended 22 months ago as well,” he told NBC News.
Were there any tensions between the two governments?
“There is not a tension as much as an ongoing mutual frustration that it has been very difficult to get Hamas to come to terms,” he said. “And there is a mutual frustration that the world puts more blame on Israel than it does on Hamas.”
After almost two years of fighting, which has seen much of Gaza destroyed and widespread displacement of the population, Hamas and Israel remain at odds over a deal that would end the war and see the release of the remaining 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
Huckabee was insistent that the hostages must be freed, Hamas “can’t govern” or stay in Gaza in the future, and the militant group “should not be allowed to call this a win.”
Criticism by Huckabee of his host nation has been limited since he took office. Shortly after his arrival, he threatened to declare that Israel no longer welcomed Christian groups over what he said was Jerusalem’s failure to approve tourist visas for evangelical missions, an issue that was later resolved. He also called on Israel to investigate the killing of Sayfollah Musallet, an American who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
He has stood with Israel in opposing a plan by longtime American ally France after it pledged to recognize a Palestinian state this month.
“How clever! If Macron can just ‘declare’ the existence of a state perhaps the UK can ‘declare’ France a British colony!” he wrote on X.
To NBC he said, “It is an ill-timed reward to Hamas. Why on earth would there be this sudden fervor to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state when it only gives Hamas a reason to celebrate and say October 7 really worked?”
Prior to his appointment as envoy, Huckabee was outspoken about his support for the idea that Israel should annex the occupied West Bank and incorporate its Palestinian population, a position that would represent a reversal of decades of U.S. policy. He has continued to back the idea that the territory should be referred to by its biblical name of “Judea and Samaria,” a term that he uses and that right-wing Israeli and American politicians and activists have failed to get the U.S. government to formally adopt.
Huckabee calls the terminology “historically accurate” and “more descriptive of what the land is and it has roots in a 3,800-year history.”
Palestinians view the West Bank, which Israel seized during the 1967 Six-Day War, as integral to a future state. Most of the international community views Israeli settlements in the area as illegal.
Huckabee said his own previously stated views did not affect America’s actions in Israel.
“The day I was sworn in as ambassador, my personal views are subjugated to those of the president who was elected and who sent me,” he said. “I don’t get to personally dictate what the American policy is.”
Regardless of which public policies he had pledged to enforce, the fierce loyalty Huckabee feels was obvious when he compared the U.S.-Israel relationship to his 51-year marriage to wife Janet, 70.
If a visitor to his home praised him but insulted his wife, he said, “I am going to throw you out of my house. … I am going to take it as an incredible insult that you said horrific things about my partner. You, in essence, have now maligned me by maligning the choice I have made in a partner.”
He added: “As the chief diplomat of the U.S. to this country, someone says something that is untrue and unfair about the partner of the U.S., it’s my job to push back. And I do.”
