‘He still loves you’: US envoy insists Trump-Israel relationship is as strong as ever

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said in several interviews aired on Israeli television on Saturday that, despite reports that the relationship between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has soured, the bond between the US leader and the Jewish state is as strong as it has ever been.

Asked about Trump’s decision to skip Israel in his upcoming visit to the Middle East, which will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Huckabee said that it was not an indication of a deteriorating relationship between Washington and Jerusalem.

“His first trip is about economic opportunity. That’s where his focus is,” Huckabee said in the interview with Channel 12 news.

“What he’s doing is not because he’s snubbing Israel,” he insisted. “There are 200 nations in the world, almost, so there are a lot of them he hasn’t gone to yet, a lot of them he isn’t going to right away — he’s spent more time with the prime minister of Israel than he has any other world leader. I think that says a lot.”

“I would just say to people, ‘Relax, calm down, Donald Trump loves you, there’s no doubt about that, he’s got your back,’” the US ambassador said. “He is the same Donald Trump that, for four years as president, did more for Israel than any other American president.”

In a separate interview with i24 News, he made similar arguments and asserted that Netanyahu “has spent more time with Donald Trump in the last three months than I have.”

In another interview to Channel 13, Huckabee said he was sure that Trump would visit Israel in the coming year.

Huckabee insisted that Trump and Netanyahu have an “outstanding relationship,” and that Trump “cares deeply about Israel.”

“America understands that we don’t have a bigger ally” than Israel, he said.

In a fourth interview with the Kan public broadcaster, Huckabee — a longtime ardent backer of Israeli settlements in the West Bank — was asked whether he supports settlements being built in Gaza, as advocated by some on the right, including coalition members and ministers.

“I certainly have strong opinions, I’ve articulated them through many, many years of being here, but my job is to serve the interests of the president and to articulate his positions,” he replied. “And frankly, the issue of the settlements is not an American issue — it’s an Israeli issue. I will follow the dictates of the president’s policy here. But we also recognize that America won’t make that decision as to how Israel will approach Judea and Samaria — it will be a decision made in Israel by the Israelis.”

In the Channel 13 interview, Huckabee also spoke about the ongoing nuclear talks between the US and Iran, and was asked whether Washington would support Israel carrying out military action against Iran if such a deal is signed, should the Jewish state still deem it to be a threat.

“The United States has never stood in the way, this president has never stood in the way, of Israel from defending itself,” he said.

“I know there is anxiety here, I sense it,” he said, but he urged Israelis to “look at what the president has done [for Israel].”

Jerusalem is reportedly unhappy with the ongoing US-Iran talks, which are said to be developing into a largely similar framework to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which was signed by then-US president Barack Obama and was panned at the time by Netanyahu as disastrous for Israel.

Under the terms being discussed, according to reports, Iran would limit stockpile size and centrifuge types, and dilute, export or seal its 60 percent uranium stock under unprecedented International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) scrutiny, in exchange for substantial sanctions relief.

This approach has not aligned with Netanyahu’s longtime position, which is that Israel will not allow Iran to attain nuclear weapons and is opposed to any talks that don’t lead Iran to agree to a “Libya-style agreement,” under which Tehran’s entire nuclear program — both military and civilian — would be dismantled completely.

When asked if the US supports the Israeli military’s new plans for a ramped-up offensive against Hamas in Gaza, even if it endangers the remaining hostages held captive there, Huckabee answered that “everyone… wants the hostages to come home first, and that’s the highest priority.”

“We all want to see hostages released,” he said, but he made sure to clarify that the only reason the hostages are in any danger was because of Hamas, saying it is “inappropriate, and frankly insulting” to say that the reason the hostages are in danger is because of decisions from US or Israeli leaders.

The war began with the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, during which thousands of terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages to Gaza.

“If Hamas would act like civilized people, this would be over,” he said, insisting that pressure should be put on the terror group, not the Israeli government, to agree to a deal to free the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza, 35 of whom have been confirmed by Israel to be dead.

In his interviews, the envoy also pushed back on criticism within Israel of the recent deal signed between the US and the Houthi rebels in Yemen regarding a cessation of US bombing if the Iran-backed rebels stop firing on US shipping, which notably left the door open for Houthi strikes on Israel to go unabated.

Israel was not told in advance about the agreement, officials said. It was announced by Trump two days after a Houthi missile impacted the grounds of Ben Gurion Airport, a few hundred yards from the main control tower, lightly injuring several people and prompting most foreign airlines to halt flights to Israel.

“Here’s what I can tell you, because I had a conversation with both the president and the vice president last night,” Huckabee told Channel 12. “There’s 700,000 Americans living in Israel. If the Houthis want to continue doing things to Israel and they hurt an American, then it becomes our business.”

Asked to clarify whether he meant that the US would only intervene to fight the rebel group if a US citizen was hurt by a Houthi missile, the ambassador said: “It’s a matter of what becomes our immediate business.”

His remarks echoed those made by Trump, who, when asked about the Houthis pledging to continue attacking Israel notwithstanding their agreement with the US, responded: “I’ll discuss that if something happens.”

Huckabee noted that “the United States isn’t required to get permission from Israel to make some type of arrangement that would get the Houthis from firing on our ships.”

Asked about the many reports that Netanyahu was caught off guard by the announcement of the US-Houthi deal, the former Arkansas governor told Kan: “I don’t know what he knew and when he knew it. I know he was informed, I do not know at what time.”

Since the deal between the US and the Houthis was signed, the Iran-backed Yemeni group has continued firing missiles and drones at Israel, which Jerusalem has vowed to retaliate for.

Asked by i24 about Trump’s coordination with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Syria, a matter where Ankara is at odds with Jerusalem and where a power struggle is brewing, Huckabee said the two leaders’ good ties don’t mean they can’t disagree behind closed doors.

He said Trump strives to maintain good relationships with many leaders he has disagreements with, noting his past meetings with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

Also on Saturday, Huckabee responded to a report in the Jerusalem Post that cited a “Gulf diplomatic source” as saying that Trump would soon recognize a Palestinian state, calling it “nonsense,” and claiming his toddler grandson was a more reliable source than the anonymous Gulf source quoted in the report.

There has been some speculation as to what Trump will be announcing on his upcoming Middle East trip, which he has teased as a “very, very big announcement,” but the Post report was the first to suggest that it could have anything to do with the US recognizing a Palestinian state, something Trump has never suggested would be a possibility.

Hmm. @Jerusalem_Post needs better sources than this unidentified “source.” My 4 yr old grandson Teddy is more reliable. And take it from Teddy. This report is nonsense. @Israel doesn’t have a better friend than @POTUS ! https://t.co/N3YYgdXYCW

— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) May 10, 2025

The United States has long opposed Palestinian efforts to unilaterally secure statehood status, arguing that the goal should be achieved through direct negotiations with Israel.

Even under the previous US administration, led by then-president Joe Biden, which was seen as more vocally sympathetic toward the Palestinians, the White House insisted that the Palestinian Authority would need to undergo significant reforms before a Palestinian state was recognized. Ramallah has long been marred by allegations of corruption and mismanagement.