President Donald Trump has selected former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to be the next US ambassador to Israel and a Fox News host to be the new secretary of defense.
Huckabee has a track record of strong, sometimes provocative, pro-Israel rhetoric, and has previously argued that Israel has a legitimate claim to the West Bank, calling the West Bank a Hebrew term. He said that they were called by their Biblical names, Judea and Samaria.
The territory is claimed by Palestinians as part of a future state, but is home to several Israeli settlements that are not recognized under international law. Mr. Huckabee refused to call the settlement by that name, insisting that it be called a “community” or “neighborhood.” He also denied that the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War, is under military occupation.
In a post on his Truth social network, President Trump predicted that Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, “will work tirelessly to bring peace to the Middle East.”
President Trump called Huckabee a “great public servant” and wrote, “He loves Israel and the people of Israel, and the people of Israel love him as well.”
Late Tuesday, President Trump announced that he would name Pete Hegseth, a veteran of the world’s largest and most powerful military, to host Fox News, a move that surprised the Pentagon and broader defense community. Mr. Hegseth is a former Army National Guard captain and well-known in conservative circles, but he has no government experience or been tested on the world stage.
Hegseth’s appointment as defense secretary could bring fundamental changes to the military. Like Trump, Hegseth has made it clear on his shows and in interviews that he is adamantly opposed to “woke” programs that promote equity and inclusion. He also questioned the role of women in combat and advocated amnesty for military personnel accused of war crimes.
Hegseth, 44, a staunch conservative who supports President Trump’s “America First” policies, has pushed for making the military more lethal. In an interview on the podcast “The Sean Ryan Show,” he said that allowing women to participate in combat undermined that effort.
On Tuesday, it was also announced that President Trump has nominated former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to head the Central Intelligence Agency. Ratcliffe, a close ally of President Trump, served as director of national intelligence at the end of his first term.
Ratcliffe was confirmed as the country’s top spy in May 2020, eight months before Trump left office. The former congressman and U.S. attorney for Texas received no support from Senate Democrats during his confirmation.
As director of national intelligence, Ratcliffe accused Trump and his Republican allies of declassifying information to attack political opponents, including Trump’s then-presidential rival Joe Biden. Ratcliffe’s office has denied the charges, which have been criticized by officials.
Additionally, the president-elect has named real estate investor and campaign donor Steve Witkoff as special envoy to the Middle East. Witkoff is a real estate investor, landlord, and founder of the Witkoff Group, which he founded in 1977.
President Trump continued his appointments Tuesday night, announcing that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem will become secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, a key role overseeing the nation’s immigration system.
Immigration enforcement is at the center of President Trump’s agenda, pledging to tighten border controls and implement a massive deportation program across the country.
President Trump described Noem on social media as “very strong on border security” and emphasized his decision as governor to deploy the National Guard to the Texas-Mexico border.
Huckabee’s appointment appears to signal a return to the overtly pro-Israel stance of the first Trump administration, which was criticized by Palestinians as undermining peace prospects and moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. .
Israel claims Jerusalem as its inalienable capital, while Palestinians claim the eastern part of Jerusalem as their future capital.
Huckabee, who has visited Israeli settlements several times in a 2017 interview with CNN, made his position clear.
“Until now, only Jews have had Yerushalayim (the Hebrew name for Jerusalem) as their capital,” he said. “No one has ever made this city their capital, so it shouldn’t even be up for debate.”
He was similarly uncompromising on the West Bank issue, refusing to use the term.
“I think Israel has the title deeds to Judea and Samaria,” he said. “There are words that I am not allowed to use. There is no such thing as the West Bank. There is no such thing as Judea and Samaria. There is no such thing as reconciliation. They are communities, neighborhoods, cities. There is no such thing as a profession. do not.”
Huckabee’s fervent support for Israel has sometimes angered Israeli and Jewish groups.
He drew criticism during his failed presidential campaign in 2015 when he accused Barack Obama of marching Jews “to the oven door” by signing the nuclear deal with Iran.
The comment drew a rebuke from Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to Washington at the time, and the Anti-Defamation League, an advocacy group dedicated to combating anti-Semitism.
Nevertheless, Huckabee remained unrepentant. “The response from Jews was overwhelmingly positive,” he says.
Huckabee’s daughter, current Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, served as White House press secretary during Trump’s first presidency.
