Soon-to-be US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee recently shared his thoughts with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News about the reactions he’s received following his nomination to the role.

“I’ve been overwhelmed with positive responses, both here in the US as well as in Israel. It’s been an interesting mix, because I’ve had very positive responses from American Jews, from American Evangelical Christians, and from people in Israel,” Huckabee said, reflecting on the warm reception.

Huckabee noted that among the many congratulatory calls he received was one from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he has a three-decade-long friendship. “He called me within an hour after the announcement was made. A phone call from Ron Dermer, whom I’ve known for many years, and from the Foreign Minister. Emails and text messages and phone calls from all over, and it’s been very positive,” he recounted.

While most of the feedback has been positive, Huckabee acknowledged some criticism, particularly from left-leaning circles. “The only negative things that I’ve seen at all have been from whom you’d expect it – from the very far left and typically in the media, who thought that some of my previous positions and/or statements, particularly regarding the two-state solution, which I don’t believe is legit – that troubled some of the people from the far left, but it is what it is. It’s a position I’ve held for many years and, frankly, it’s a position that Donald Trump has held and I expect that he will continue to.”

Addressing his role as ambassador, Huckabee emphasized that his actions would reflect the directives of the President, not his personal views. “As an Ambassador, you don’t get to do what you want. You carry out the wishes and the directions of the President, and it will be his policies, not mine, that we will implement. But I’m very pleased that his policies have been the most pro-Israel policies of any president in my lifetime,” he stated.

Huckabee shared that he hadn’t sought a federal role and was surprised by the offer. “The position of ambassador to Israel was the only thing that President Trump could have asked me to do that I probably would’ve said yes to. I wasn’t looking for a federal job. I wasn’t even looking for this one. I didn’t campaign or lobby for it. I was as surprised as anybody when I got the call last Tuesday, and the President asked me to do it and it was the one thing I could say to, like Isaiah, ‘Here am I.’”

He explained that the opportunity to strengthen US-Israel relations was deeply meaningful to him. “The role of ambassador to Israel is a way for me to serve my country and my President,” Huckabee said. “But it’s also a way for me to be able to serve a relationship that to me is incredibly important, and that is the relationship between the United States and Israel. That’s why there is a great level of not only excitement but a deeply emotional reaction that I have had to this, because I see it as a calling. An opportunity to do something that I hope will be instrumental in helping to bring a greater level of security and certainty in policy for the people of Israel.”

When asked about changes needed in the US-Israel partnership, Huckabee stressed the importance of consistency. “We need to have a consistent relationship, and it needs to be a strong one. Both nations benefit when there is a strong alliance between the United States and Israel. We need for intelligence sharing, we need for technology sharing. We are even beneficiaries in sharing for agricultural capacities. There are so many innovations that have happened in Israel, in medicine. Those are things that help all of us, and I think the United States can be a strong strategic partner in helping to further the mission of the Abraham Accords, which are very much the work of Donald Trump in his first term…I want to be a part of making sure that the Abraham Accords that he launched continue to grow. Bring more people into those agreements and create a more stable, more peaceful climate in the Middle East, but also a much better and more hopeful future for everyone.”

Regarding Judea and Samaria, Huckabee said he remains steadfast in his terminology and views. “I can’t be what I’m not. I can’t say something I don’t believe. As you well know, I’ve never been willing to use the term ‘West Bank’. There is no such thing. I speak of Judea and Samaria. I tell people there is no ‘occupation’. It is a land that is ‘occupied’ by the people who have had a rightful deed to the place for 3,500 years, since the time of Abraham.”

Huckabee made clear that his language reflects his deeply held beliefs. “A lot of the terms that maybe the media would use, even the people who are against Israel would use, are not terms that I employ, because I want to use terms that are time immemorial, and those are the terms like ‘Promised Land’ and ‘Judea and Samaria’. These are Biblical terms, and those are important to me, and so I will continue to follow that nomenclature unless I’m instructed otherwise, but I don’t think that’ll happen.”

On the topic of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, Huckabee reiterated that such decisions belong to Israel. “That’s a decision for Israel to make, not for the United States to impose it on them. I don’t think Donald Trump is the kind of President that wants to tell other countries what to do and how to do it. He wants to accommodate, help, encourage peaceful endeavors, strengthen alliances…if you remember back to his four years as President, there has never been a more pro-Israel President, ever, in history, than Donald Trump. And it was everything from recognition of Jerusalem as the capital, to moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing the Golan Heights as the rightful property of the State of Israel, and also no longer trying to push a two-state solution, because it’s impractical and unworkable.”

{Matzav.com}