April 28, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm former Arkansas governor and Baptist pastor Mike Huckabee as the Trump administration’s ambassador to Israel, two days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's White House visit.
The 53-46 vote installs a staunch supporter of Israel in the key Mideast post, which may prove critical to Trump’s efforts to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and threats posed to Israel by Iran.
Senate confirmation of Huckabee may come as a bit of a relief for Israeli officials, although he told lawmakers during a hearing last month that he would “carry out the president’s priorities, not mine” as ambassador.
That pledge came in response to questions about some of his past statements about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people.
“I am not here to articulate or defend my own views or policies, but to present myself as one who will respect and represent the president, whose overwhelming election by the people will hopefully give me the honor of serving as ambassador to the state of Israel,” Huckabee said at the time.
Huckabee acknowledged his past support for Israel’s right to annex the West Bank and incorporate its Palestinian population into Israel but said it would not be his “prerogative” to carry out that policy.
