U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee warned on Wednesday that cyberattacks could increasingly be used to kill or injure large numbers of people, stressing the importance of cybersecurity cooperation between the United States, Israel and Taiwan.
Speaking at Tel Aviv University’s Cyber Week 2026, Huckabee said the three democracies face common adversaries and share an interest in protecting technological innovation from malicious actors.
“One of the reasons Israel matters so much to the United States is not only our partnership in things like intelligence, military hardware, technology, agriculture, but it is the specific nature of cybersecurity, because the enemies of Israel are the enemies of the United States,” he said.
“I think it would be fair to say that the enemies of Israel and the United States are also the enemies of Taiwan, because anyone who does not love democracy, freedom, the idea of free thought, free speech, equal rights; those are the people who aren’t going to care much for Taiwan,” he added.
Huckabee was addressing the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) International Workshop, titled “Enhancing Digital Trust in the Age of AI,” which brought together senior officials, policymakers and cybersecurity experts from the three countries.
“Imagine the capacity to use technology in a way through the abuse of cyber ability that would in fact end up either injuring or killing masses of people,” Huckabee said.
“Every night when I go to sleep, there are people who are wide awake somewhere in the world trying to figure out how to use technology as a tool of destruction. That’s why what you do every day in your professional lives is a very critical part of protecting the rest of us.”
Turning to artificial intelligence, Huckabee acknowledged its potential dangers while emphasizing the importance of responsible innovation.
“Technology has the capacity to do amazing things. Also, it has the capacity to do malign things,” he said. “One of the hopes is that countries who value free enterprise but also freedom of thought will manage the risk in such a way so that the stage is set for responsible use of technology. But responsible use of technology absolutely requires an attention to security.”
