LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has been nominated to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel as President-elect Donald Trump continues to announce and build out his cabinet.
"Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years," Trump said. "He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him."
Huckabee has been a strong ally for Trump since at least 2016 when the former governor dropped out of the Republican nomination race. After Trump's first election in 2016, it was rumored that Huckabee would be named Israel ambassador or given a cabinet role, but he said on a Fox News appearance that it was not "the right fit" at the time.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Huckabee's daughter, congratulated her dad on social media, saying he has a great love and "commitment to the unbreakable bond between America and Israel." Sanders previously served as Trump's press secretary for two years.
Trump also said that Huckabee will "work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!"
The former governor is an ardent supporter of Israel and regularly hosts trips to the country. Huckabee has ties to Yesha Council, a Jewish settlement organization that works on "expanding the settlers’ footprint in the West Bank."
The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are the two territories that are the State of Palestine. Since at least 1967, the West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation and the top United Nations court has called it "unlawful."
Huckabee has labeled the naming of Trump's cabinet as finding "some of the best people" and that he's avoiding people "who might have too swampy themselves for the job of draining the swamp."
"Trump knows he can’t reform the deep state bureaucracy if he chooses people to run it who came out of it," Huckabee said. "And so far at least, his stated priorities and his personnel choices are looking good beyond our wildest imaginings."
We will update this article with more information as it becomes available.
