Mike Huckabee downplays pro-settler views at confirmation hearing to be envoy to Israel
Trump’s pick for ambassador asks senators to adjudicate nomination based on his ability to represent president, not his past views; says it won’t be his prerogative to turn annexation into US policy
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, urged lawmakers at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday to judge him based on his ability to represent the new administration, not his past views, which have faced pushback from Democrats.
The remarks appeared to be an effort to pivot from his staunch support for the Israeli settlement movement, Israeli annexation of the West Bank and opposition to Palestinian statehood.
With Republicans making up the majority on the committee, though, the support of Democrats won’t be needed for Huckabee to be confirmed.
“The Founders recognized that Senate approval was not necessarily Senate agreement with the president, his policies or even with those he selected to represent him. But the Senate affirms that those nominated be thoroughly examined to determine moral and legal fitness to serve,” Huckabee told the committee in his opening remarks, which were three times briefly interrupted by shrieking anti-Israel protesters who were quickly removed from the chambers and placed under arrest.
“I’m aware that not everyone on this committee will agree with the president’s policies or his personal choices in his administration,” the former Arkansas governor said.
“I’m not here to articulate or even defend my own views or policies, but rather to present myself as one who will respect and represent the overwhelmingly elected president,” he added. Notably, though, he did lay out his stance against a two-state solution during questioning later on in the hearing.
Huckabee shared his personal story of growing up poor in the city of Hope, Arkansas. “Not one in my entire family lineage had ever graduated from high school, [so] the very notion that I would one day be governor of my state or be nominated to serve as an ambassador would have been laughable in my childhood.”
He recalled his first trip to Israel as a teenager and the countless trips he has led for Christian groups in the five decades since.
“I stand here today grateful to God for his grace and goodness, and it is the only explanation for my being here,” he said. “I would say the same for the nation that I’ve been nominated to deploy to.”
He recalled that the Senate in a bipartisan manner swiftly confirmed the previous nominee to serve as US ambassador to Israel — Jack Lew — shortly after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.
“That sense of urgency has not ended. That war continues, and for that reason, I respectfully ask your thoughtful consideration for confirmation to become our nation’s ambassador to the State of Israel,” Huckabee said.
Republican senators used their questioning to receive assurances from Huckabee that the administration would work to expand the Abraham Accords normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab countries that were brokered during Trump’s first term.
Huckabee responded emphatically that he would work to see that goal through, placing particular focus on a potential normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“It’s possible that this president could achieve something in the Middle East… [of] biblical proportion,” Huckabee said. “It would be astonishing and incredible to see former enemies, enemies who have fought wars in 1948, 1967, 1973 and on, to become partners in peace. It’s not easy. It’s not going to necessarily be quick, but… this president is committed to [this goal].”
Saudi Arabia has stated repeatedly, however, that it won’t establish relations with Israel absent the establishment of a time-bound, irreversible pathway to a Palestinian state — something that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long ruled out.
Democrats on the committee used their questioning to hammer Huckabee on his hardline views.
Sen. Jeff Merkley pressed him on whether Israel should use 2,000-lb bombs in Gaza, given the likelihood that they will harm non-combatants. Former US president Joe Biden withheld them due to those concerns. Huckabee declined to answer the question directly.
Merkley also asked whether Israel should use humanitarian aid as leverage against Hamas. Israel has barred aid from entering Gaza since the beginning of the month, claiming Hamas steals the aid and that the assistance won’t resume so long as the terror group doesn’t release the remaining hostages. Huckabee avoided commenting on this practice as well.
Asked about the plight of the hostages, Huckabee told Sen. Cory Booker that their release would be his top priority if confirmed.
Booker tried to press Huckabee for his thoughts on the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which saw the release of 33 hostages over the past two months. Israel ended the ceasefire by resuming intensive military operations throughout Gaza on March 18, blaming the terror group for refusing repeated offers to release more hostages.
Hamas has insisted on sticking to the original terms of the January deal, which was supposed to enter its second phase on March 2. That phase would see the release of all remaining living hostages in exchange for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces and a permanent end to the war. Netanyahu has refused those latter two terms, even though he signed on to the phased agreement.
The US has backed Israel’s aversion to phase two and has blamed Hamas for refusing offers to instead extend phase one of the ceasefire. Egypt is currently leading the uphill effort by mediators to restore the ceasefire.
Huckabee avoided offering his thoughts on the deal, beyond blaming Hamas for the continued captivity of the hostages. He did point to the Trump administration’s stance that the terror group “will have no future in Gaza.”
US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff did say on Friday, however, that the terror group could remain “politically involved” in Gaza if it agreed to demilitarize.
Asked about Trump’s plan for the US to take over Gaza and relocate Palestinians outside of the Strip, Huckabee clarified that the president wasn’t talking about forced displacement, but rather offering “a safe and secure place for people to live during the process of cleaning out what is a disastrous mess.”
Huckabee acknowledged his longstanding support for Israeli annexation of the West Bank, “but it would not be my prerogative to make that the policy of the president.”
The stance appeared to mark a departure from the approach of Trump’s previous ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who used his close ties to the president to advance policies that he has long supported with regard to the Palestinians and Israel’s claims to the West Bank.
“If confirmed, it’ll be my duty to carry out the president’s policies — not mine… An ambassador doesn’t create the policy. He carries out the policy of his country and his president,” Huckabee said.
In an interview shortly after Trump announced his decision to tap Huckabee for the role in Jerusalem, the former Arkansas governor said the new administration could support Israel annexing large parts of the West Bank.
Asked whether Palestinians living in annexed areas would receive equal rights to Jews, Huckabee dodged, saying, “There would be security, there would be opportunity,” while stopping short of mentioning voting rights.
“The question is not, ‘Is there a need for people who are Palestinian to be able to live and have a future?’ The question is, ‘Where and when?’ Will it be on top of the Israeli Jewish state, or will it be somewhere that is decided upon that would be completely different, only for those who wish to locate there,” Huckabee said.
He tore into the Palestinian Authority and its leader, President Mahmoud Abbas, who “is now in the 20th year of his four-year term.”
Abbas has said he is willing to hold elections if Israel allows balloting for Palestinians in annexed East Jerusalem — something that Netanyahu has refused to publicly authorize. Analysts say that Abbas’s aversion to elections has also had to do with fears of Hamas gains.
Huckabee also blasted the PA’s welfare program, which includes payments to prisoners based on the length of their sentence in Israeli jails. Abbas signed a decree last month ending the policy, but it has yet to be fully implemented.
“The two-state solution — the notion that everyone’s going to live together, toasting marshmallows around the campfire, singing Kumbaya, and [that] it’s going to happen in our lifetime — is not going to happen if one of the sides doesn’t believe the other one has a right to exist,” Huckabee asserted.
Commenting on mounting criticism of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, Huckabee said, “The Jewish people need to know they have friends. There’s a long line of enemies that the Jewish people experience across this globe, and sadly on some of our own university campuses.
“It’s going to be a privilege to be one of those people — not Jewish, but Christian — who will say to our Jewish friends, ‘You will never go through what you’ve gone through alone. We will not stand behind you. We will stand with you,” he said.
Speaking at an event for Trump’s ambassador nominees, Huckabee said he is hoping to arrive in Israel by Passover, which starts on April 12.
“Mike is going to do wonders for Israel. He actually probably gets along with both sides. That’ll be interesting to see. The world is watching you, Mike, so good luck,” Trump said in response.
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