Trump nominates Mike Huckabee to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel
Mike Huckabee, 69, former Southern Baptist pastor, governor, and U.S. presidential candidate, has been nominated to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Israel, President-elect Donald Trump announced Nov. 12.
“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,’ Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East!”
In October Huckabee, who has visited Israel more than 100 times in the past 50 years, was named No. 2 on a list of “10 Most Influential Christian Zionists” published by The Jerusalem Post.
Huckabee told the Post, “Everything that I embrace as a Christian is rooted in the promises that God gave to the Jewish people.”
“Of the many Christian friends of The Fellowship (of Christians and Jews) and of the Jewish state of Israel, none has a passion and calling stronger than that of Governor Mike Huckabee. His accomplishments – 44th governor of Arkansas, presidential candidate, ordained Southern Baptist pastor, and television host – certainly show him to be a man of action and a man of God,” the Post wrote, adding that in his many trips to Israel, Huckabee has led tens of thousands of visitors “to show what Israel is all about.”
Huckabee has long been a friend of The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, wrote the Post and his support “for Israel and The Fellowship has proven invaluable in the months since the October 7th attacks, as he has helped give voice to those who survived the attacks, those who fight to protect Israel, and Israelis and Jewish people worldwide who face unprecedented anti-Semitism.”
Huckabee’s daughter, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said following his nomination that she was “unbelievably proud” of her father.
“There is no greater supporter and nobody who has a greater understanding of our two nation’s unbreakable bond,” she said, “and no one who will do a better job in this role.”