When Mike Huckabee, the former Republican governor and evangelical minister, was named as President Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel, it set a tone for the nature of the U.S.-Israel relationship under the second Trump administration. Huckabee, who has said there is no such thing as Palestinians and who believes the Occupied Palestinian West Bank should be called Judea and Samaria, represented a certain evangelical constituency in the United States that has been at the foundation of support for Israel among Republicans.
But Huckabee’s latest interview with Tucker Carlson, and the statements he made during it, are roiling the region and making it clear to regional players that their very low expectations for the Trump administration were not quite low enough. The row also comes at the intersection of two important contemporary currents: an American military buildup in the region putting it on a collision course with Iran, as well as a growing divide in the American right over support for Israel.
This op-ed was published by the New Republic on February 26, 2026. To read more click here
Featured image credit: US Embassy in Jerusalem
