Live Update
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Lapid says he spoke with Trump’s intended ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Then-Republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump (R) and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee during a roundtable at the Drexelbrook Catering & Event Center, October 29, 2024, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. (AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Opposition leader Yair Lapid says he spoke earlier today with US President Donald Trump’s nominee to become the next ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee.
“I look forward to seeing him out here, as the US ambassador to Israel, very soon, and working together to further strengthen the unique relationship between the US and Israel,” Lapid tweets.
Huckabee is expected to be confirmed by the Senate, but there is no timeline for when that will take place.
The former Arkansas governor is closely aligned with the settler right in Israel, so his decision to hold a call with Lapid indicates that he is looking to cooperate with additional facets of Israeli politics.