In one of his first speeches as U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee on Tuesday described his posting as a divine assignment, using terminology an Israeli cabinet minister and a prominent Christian Zionist leader in attendance called inspiring and unprecedented.
Huckabee, an evangelical Baptist minister who served for 10 years as governor of Arkansas, began his speech at the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem by explaining why he, “a Christian, would have such a connection to the Jewish People.”
Without the Jews, he added, “I don’t have faith. I have nothing.”
Huckabee, 69, has been a staunch advocate of Israel for decades in the Republican Party, in evangelical circles and beyond.
“It is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, upon which everything I believe is held. And God decided to bring His light and His law into the world through the Jewish people. It wasn’t my decision, it was His. I respect what God chooses to do. I honor what God chooses to do,” Huckabee continued.
Huckabee, who was confirmed as ambassador last month, praised the employees of his embassy as “dedicated patriots and public servants,” but his speech hardly touched on geopolitics and bilateral relations—the tenets of ambassadorial addresses.
Instead, he delivered a passionate monologue whose tone and content was reminiscent of the many sermons that he has given since his first pastoral appointment in the 1980s at the Immanuel Baptist Church in his native Arkansas.
Huckabee condemned antisemitism as a “revolting hatred” toward not only Jews but also God; called Israel “home” for himself and his wife Janet—whom he congratulated for ascending on foot to Masada despite her knee condition to pray for the return of Israel’s hostages in Gaza.
Amichai Chikli, Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, called the speech “moving and unprecedented,” adding: “We’ve never had a U.S. ambassador like this one, who is the quintessential representative of the concept of faith diplomacy.”
This is fitting because “the U.S.-Israel alliance is not only about common interests and military considerations, but also based on a common ethos, a biblical ethos of liberty, which is ingrained in the Judeo-Christian civilization,” said Chikli.
Mike Evans, the founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center, which celebrates Christian Zionists and their contribution to Israel, noted that David Friedman, U.S. President Donald Trump’s previous appointment as ambassador to Israel, “was also a man of faith” who viewed his mission in religious terms. But Huckabee “could be in fact the first one that has made it so bold, his faith commitment,” said Evans.
As ambassador, Huckabee will work toward realizing Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, said Chikli. “I have no doubt he will pour all of his energy and strength into this issue, out of his deep faith in the righteousness of Zionism and that of the People of Israel,” Chikli told JNS.
Yisrael Ganz, the head of the Yesha Council, which represents regional councils in Judea and Samaria, welcomed Huckabee’s appointment and called him a “true friend of Israel.” Gantz redirected JNS’s question on whether Huckabee would help realize Israeli sovereignty, putting the ball in the Israeli government’s court.
“Sovereignty is an issue for the Israeli government. That’s why we address our demand to it,” he said. “I don’t think it’s relevant to this discussion with the United States and with President Trump. Our request is made domestically. When the domestic policy is put in place, the prime minister will request recognition, but we’re not there.”
Much of Tuesday’s event was devoted to Israeli hostages in Gaza. One of the released hostages, Omer Shem Tov, attended the event and spoke of how his 505 days in captivity strengthened his faith in God. The parents of Guy Gilboa Dalal also took the stage, asking Huckabee and Trump to help release their son.
“I pray that before another fortnight happens, Guy is home. We all pray for the return of every person,” Huckabee said in his speech, which he made after receiving the Friend of Zion Award from Evans at his Friends of Zion Heritage Center.
The event featured video messages, projected on a screen, from some of the evangelical world’s most prominent figures, including Pastor Skip Heitzig of Calvary Church in Albuquerque and Mat Staver, a pastor and founder of the influential religious rights advocacy group Liberty Counsel.
“In the 77 years of the modern State of Israel, there has never been an evangelical [U.S.] ambassador like yourself,” Staver said in his video message to Huckabee. Sen. Ted Cruz was among the politicians who sent video greetings praising Huckabee.
During his speech, Huckabee shared with his listeners a chat he had with his wife recently, in which he realized that on previous visits to Israel, “typically after two weeks we go home. This time, we are home,” he said.
Formal attire was required at Tuesday’s event in Jerusalem, but the dress code was perhaps the only formality at the soiree. Its familiar and friendly air was more reminiscent of a family reunion or festive church service than a black-tie diplomatic reception.
The jovial atmosphere was not only because the event was a reunion for Christian Zionists, many of whom had participated in delegations to Israel led by Huckabee. The elation reflected relief, Evans said, following a feeling of betrayal of Israel by former president Joe Biden and his administration.
“There is relief, there’s great relief. Because you haven’t had that. Israel’s been used” by the United States, Evans told JNS. In his speech, he said Israel “has suffered also from diplomats and presidents and ambassadors with no moral clarity that didn’t define right and wrong, had no moral foundation.”
But all of that, Evans said, “has changed. You have a president who’s fearless, who has total moral clarity. And now you have an ambassador who’s fearless and has total moral clarity, who believes in good: That Israel is good and its enemies are evil.”