Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Huckabee to speak at YU graduation

“Ambassador Mike Huckabee is a true hero and friend of the United States, the State of Israel, the Jewish people and all people,” said Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University

Huckabee
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee addresses the FOZ Ambassadors Summit in Jerusalem, Dec. 7, 2025. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

Mike Huckabee, U.S. ambassador to Israel and the former governor of Arkansas, will deliver the 2026 commencement address at Yeshiva University and receive its Presidential Medallion for Global Leadership, the school announced on Thursday.

The theme is “America 250,” highlighting the university’s 140-year-old role in higher education.

“Ambassador Mike Huckabee is a true hero and friend of the United States, the State of Israel, the Jewish people and all people,” said Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, president of the university.

Huckabee said he was “honored to be invited.”

“At a time when these principles are more important than ever, the university stands as a powerful example of how education can inspire purpose,” he said.

The ceremony is scheduled for May 28 at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, N.Y.

“In many of the countries that have Holocaust envoys or antisemitism envoys, you have to empower them to be able to do something to be effective,” the U.S. special envoy on Jew-hatred told reporters. “You can’t neuter them.”
Of the 6,000 Gazans who invaded the country on Oct. 7, 2023, 4,000 have been eliminated, said Israel Katz.
Israel’s Tax Authority confirmed it had received a list of foreign flight crews, but only checked them for criminal status.
The Jewish state lowered its flags to half-staff at 6:29 a.m. to launch commemorations honoring fallen soldiers and victims of the 2023 assault.