US Ambassador-designate to Israel Mike Huckabee says ‘world will see under President Trump that Iranian-backed terrorism can’t be rewarded’

In a Thanksgiving Special episode of THE ROSENBERG REPORT on TBN, U.S. Ambassador-designate to Israel Mike Huckabee said the nomination to the role “came out of the clear blue” for him.

“I did not lobby President Trump or suggest to him that I really wanted this position. I never mentioned it to him,” the former Arkansas governor told show host, Joel Rosenberg.

“When I got the call… I was floored. I did not expect it. President Trump called. He told me, ‘I want you to be the ambassador to Israel and I'm looking forward to you saying, yes.’”

Not only did Huckabee say yes to U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump but he also told Rosenberg, “This is the one thing that I sort of had to have that Isaiah moment and say, here am I, send me.”

“It's a privilege. I fully feel it as a calling from above to be able to be in this position at this very point of time, when Israel needs to know that they have absolute friends,” he continued.  

Rosenberg noted that Huckabee was the first non-Jew to be appointed to the position in about 20 years.

“More importantly, this is actually the first time that a devout, avowed and unabashed, and very public Evangelical Christian leader in the United States has ever been appointed to this position. I think that's extraordinary,” Rosenberg added.

Huckabee agreed that Trump made a significant choice by picking him and explained that the president-elect is very much aware of the vast support (89%) he received from Evangelical voters in the last elections.  

“He also recognizes that Evangelical Christians in the United States support Israel probably more solidly than most American Jews do. And I hear that not only in the U.S., but I hear it in Israel when I'm there, and it's said by Israeli officials constantly,” Huckabee stressed.

He described the overwhelmingly positive reaction in the United States to his nomination as a “blessing.” Moreover, Huckabee noted that it is a testament to the fact that Israel – an unapologetically and devotedly Jewish state – is not in any way hostile or unfriendly toward people who may not be Jewish.

“This is a big opportunity to say to the world, for all of you that say Israel is an apartheid state - let it be said, it isn't... Look at the reaction to my being named. It defies that. And it's such a wonderful statement both on President Trump's part, but also the Israeli people part,” Huckabee explained.

One of the first people who called to congratulate him on his appointment was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he has enjoyed a “delightful friendship” for over 30 years.

Last December, Huckabee and Rosenberg met privately with Netanyahu while co-leading the first high-level Evangelical delegation to Israel following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. The solidarity mission included visits to some of the Israeli border communities devastated by Hamas and meetings with the families of hostages who were abducted into the Gaza Strip during the attack.

Overall, the ambassador-designate said, he has visited Israel about 100 times in almost 52 years throughout his career. His strong relationships with Israelis span from government to the private sector to communities and individuals.

“People know you and they trust you here,” Rosenberg told Huckabee.

Nevertheless, he has frequently faced criticism from various directions for expressing views rooted in his religious beliefs. For example, Huckabee insists on referring to the territory of the ‘West Bank’ by its biblical name, ‘Judea and Samaria.’

“I have been very clear through many, many years of my travels to and from Israel that I don't use the term West Bank because – that's a term that doesn't mean anything. I use the terms that are biblical, ‘Judea and Samaria,’” he explained.

“I don't talk about ‘occupied territory’ because the only people who are occupying it are the people who have title deed to it. For the past 3,500 years, when Abraham was handed this deed by God, Himself. So, there are some things that for me as a person of the Book who believes the Bible to be authoritative, that I don't have an option, but I have to stick to the biblical language because that's the language that has survived history.”

Huckabee added that he gets sometimes “in trouble” for mentioning the fact that a Palestinian state never existed historically. This, however, does not imply that his faith shaped his compassion solely for Israelis.

When asked by Rosenberg for his message to the Palestinian people, Huckabee replied that they deserve the “highest level of respect.” His vision for the end of the conflict is not based upon a two-state government solution, but rather a “two-people humanitarian opportunity” in which the Palestinians must recognize the State of Israel's right to exist.  

“Some of the most incredibly important things that I've seen happening for the Palestinian people have happened because of economic opportunities that were brought about by private sector companies,” he noted.

“That's the future, where people have economic opportunity.”

As he prepares to potentially move to Israel after being confirmed as ambassador by the U.S. Senate, Rosenberg asked Huckabee: “What worries you most as you come into this position in a time of Israel's darkest hour?”

Without any hesitation, he answered: Iran.

Huckabee believes that the Iranian regime is the centerpiece of all regional problems and threats. This reality would be dealt with differently by the incoming administration, in his view. His forecast is based on Trump’s actions during his first term in office from January 2017 to January 2021. Huckabee expects to see more of the “maximum pressure” campaign with heavy economic sanctions that will bankrupt Iran internally under a strong U.S. leadership.

“The United States must show its solidarity with Israel, and I hope that that leadership will extend to Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. People will see that you cannot reward the kind of terrorist activity that has been funded by the Iranian government and somehow get away with that,” he emphasized.

Watch Joel Rosenberg’s full interview with U.S. Ambassador-designate to Israel Mike Huckabee on the TBN website.

THE ROSENBERG REPORT airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. EST and Saturday nights at 10:00 p.m. EST – on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the most-watched Christian television network in the United States.