Rabat — At a diplomatic conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday, recently-appointed US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described Israel as America’s “only true partner” in the Middle East.
He said that, as a result, the US will not tell Israel “what it can or can’t do, just as we wouldn’t expect Israel to tell us what we can or can’t do.”
“We respect our partner,” he concluded.
Huckabee is a former American state governor, former conservative media talk show host and Baptist minister who took over as the US’ ambassador to Israel in April 2025. He has played an influential role in carrying out the political agenda of US President Donald Trump amidst Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Included in this agenda is a refutation of Palestinian statehood.
For context, the United Nations officially confirmed on Tuesday that Israel was committing genocide. In solidarity with Gaza, more and more nations have recognized or indicated intentions to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state, including France, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Huckabee signaled his disagreement with such a move.
“We strongly urge nations to not go there,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “It is a stunt at the United Nations… It is not going to create a Palestinian state.”
US state visit to Israel affirms religious ties
Huckabee, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio gathered on Monday in Jerusalem to dedicate an archaeological park known as the City of David. The park sits in the shadows of a holy site known as Haram al-Sharif to Muslims and as the Temple Mount to the Jews; and the differing claims to the site have attracted much conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.
“I understand people want to involve politics in it. I understand everything in this region is political to some extent. But at the end of the day, it’s an extraordinary archaeological site,” Rubio said about the new park.
Both Rubio and Huckabee are devout Christians. In an address Huckabee delivered at the City of David park’s dedication, he called the archaeological site proof that “this is indeed the eternal home of the Jewish people.”
“Tonight, the rest of the world comes to say, ‘welcome home, and may no one ever, ever attempt to take your home from you,’” he said, speaking directly to Jews in his audience. “Those of us who are not Jewish, we thank you for giving all of us a foundation of morality and decency and civilization upon which our own faith is built, for without yours we don’t have one.”
“As I often tell my Jewish friends, you can be Jewish, you don’t need me. But I cannot be who I am in my faith without the debt of obligation that I owe to you.”
Huckabee’s remarks reaffirm the relationship between Israel and the US, even after Israel’s attack on Doha, which US President Donald Trump condemned. Nevertheless, the US has officially refrained from criticizing Israel’s plan to fully occupy Gaza City, and have shown nothing but firm, doubled down support for their ally.
While US leaders meet with Israeli leaders to talk about religion in the name of “peace,” Tel Aviv continues its genocidal war and starvation campaign on Palestinians in Gaza.
