In a wide-ranging webinar, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel declared, ‘Leaving Hamas in Gaza Would Be Like Leaving the Nazis in Germany,’ and emphasized, ‘I Can’t Be a Christian Without Owing Everything to Judaism.’
On August 19, 2025, the American Jewish Congress, in partnership with the World Zionist Organization, hosted a timely webinar with the United States Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. The session was moderated by Assaf Weiss, Vice President of the American Jewish Congress, with opening remarks from Daniel Rosen, President of the American Jewish Congress, and Tova Tofman, President of the World Zionist Organization.
The discussion covered Israel’s war against Hamas, hostage negotiations, U.S.–Israel relations, Iran’s nuclear program, and criticism of Israel on U.S. campuses. Ambassador Huckabee spoke with candor and conviction.
The full webinar can be viewed here: Watch on YouTube.
This report provides an overview of the conversation, with exact quotes from Ambassador Huckabee organized by issue.
By Issues: Exact Quotes Of Ambassador Mike Huckabee, U.S. Ambassador To Israel
On Appointment in Israel: ‘My Isaiah Moment’
I’m so proud, so grateful to God and to President Trump for letting me be in this incredible position and place at a moment of time in history that is just remarkable.
I didn’t want a federal job to be honest with you. I wasn’t looking for something to do. I was busier than I’d ever been in my life enjoying life in the private sector. Then a few days after the election, President Trump called. He didn’t ask me to come. President Trump doesn’t ask anyone. He tells you what you’re going to do. And he did. He called me and told me that I’m going to be the ambassador to Israel. To be honest, it is the only thing he would have ever asked me to do that I would have said yes to. But I couldn’t say no. For me, it was an Isaiah moment. Here am I, Lord. Send me. And I believe he has.”
On Faith and Support for Israel: ‘Without Judaism, My Faith Doesn’t Exist’
“When people ask me, ‘But you’re a Christian, you’re not even Jewish. Why are you so supportive of the Jewish people in general and the state of Israel?’ And I say, ‘Well, it’s pretty simple. You can be Jewish and have nothing to do with Christians. I can’t be a Christian without owing everything in my faith to the foundation upon which it rests and that’s Judaism. God chose the Jewish people. He chose a place. He gave Israel and its boundaries to the people he chose. And then he gave them a purpose. For me, it’s a matter of I owe a debt of obligation. I am deeply indebted to my Jewish friends without whom my own faith doesn’t even exist.’”
On the U.S.–Israel Partnership: ‘Not Just Allies, But Real Partners’
“I am the ambassador from the United States to Israel. It’s my job to represent my nation, my president, to the land of Israel. But Israel is not just a friend or an ally. We have a lot of friends, a lot of allies in the world, but America only has one real partner. That’s Israel. The reason that we are a partner with Israel is deeper than that. It’s because we really share the same spiritual and heritage of values.”
On His Connection to Israel: ‘We Didn’t Come For Two Weeks and Go Home—We Came and We Are Home’
“My love of Israel started in 1973 when I made my first pilgrimage here. For the past 52 years, I’ve made over a hundred trips here. In 1981, I started bringing Americans to experience Israel. And through the years, I brought tens of thousands of Americans to Israel. Every time I get on the plane to come home, I’m already trying to figure out when I am going to get back. We looked at each other. We said, ‘We’ve been here for weeks. This time, we didn’t come for two weeks and then go home. This time, we came, and we are home.’And that’s how it feels. I love being here. It’s an extraordinary place to serve. And I believe God has his hand on Israel. I really do. It’s a land of miracles. I see them every day.”
On Defending Israel: ‘If You Insult My Partner, You Insult Me’
“My wife and I have been married 51 years. It’s a partnership. And if you were to come to my home and I invited you to dinner and you walked in and you said, ‘Mike, we like you. We really think the world of you, but we sure don’t like your wife. We can’t stand her.’ Well, the first thing I do is throw you out of my house. So, I tell people if I’m defensive of Israel, if I stand up for Israel, it’s because it’s simple. It’s part of my job. I’m standing up for the partner that America has chosen for its partner. And I’m not going to let people tell lies and horrible things about the partner because they’re saying something negative about the choice that America has made.”
On Palestinian State Recognition: ‘A Huge Mistake’
“They’re making a huge mistake. They’re really empowering and emboldening Hamas in the middle of a war. You don’t criticize your best friend for how he is conducting the war against those who sought to annihilate him. Israel isn’t holding anyone hostage, but Hamas is holding already still 50 people. Let’s never forget what happened on October the 7th. It was a massacre of citizens, civilians, innocent children, women, sometimes pregnant women, elderly people. The people who did it were actually proud of what they were doing. They videotaped themselves committing these atrocities and boasted of it.
I would say to France and to England and all these countries. For heaven’s sakes, put the pressure not on Israel. Put the pressure on Hamas. Demand that all the hostages be released at once. Call for the disarmament of Hamas and the release of all the hostages unconditionally. That’s what should be the only message that the world is giving right now.”
On Hostage Negotiations: ‘We’re Dealing with Savages’
“I want to be optimistic, but I’m also aware of who we’re dealing with. We’re not dealing with the nation-state. We’re not dealing with honorable people. We’re dealing with savages. And these are savages who have done the most horrific things to other human beings. If they were, they would sit down and say, ‘Okay, you know what? We’re going to give the hostages up. We’re going to let them go home to their families, and we will go into exile.’ And Israel has offered that.
Whether or not they are serious about bringing this to a close, all I can do is tell you I hope so. But what has happened before, even when they say, we’re thinking very seriously about bringing this to a conclusion. Then they always add one or more things that are completely unacceptable. So, I’m not going to give up. I’m always going to be optimistic. It’s my nature. But I’m also realistic and I understand that Hamas is not like dealing with an honorable opponent. These are not people that come to the table because they are reasonable. They’re just not.”
On Hamas’s Future in Gaza: ‘Leaving Them There Would Be Like Leaving the Nazis in Germany’
“The president’s been very clear. He said Hamas has no future in Gaza. Therefore, the position that I take is that they have no future there. If they think that they’re going to stay. They’re not.
Leaving Hamas in Gaza, letting them have some future there would be like leaving the Nazis in Germany after World War II, which everyone would say, ‘Well, that’s insane. You can’t do that. It would be absurd.’ It would be equally absurd to let Hamas claim some form of victory in all of this because to do so means you’ll have another October 7th and then another. One of the things that I heard when I was in Gaza talking to people who live there. Their attitude about Hamas was, ‘These people are horrible.’ But here’s the other part. They said they want nothing to do in the future with the PA, the PLO or Fatah. So, if the Palestinian Authority thinks that they’re going to go back in and take control. I can assure you the people of Gaza will not be in favor of that. So, it’s going to be a very different future.”
On Iran’s Nuclear Program: ‘No Education in the Second Kick of a Mule’
“I think the president was right when he said we obliterated their nuclear capacity. Of course, as you know, most of their scientists were killed in the very first few seconds of the beginning of the war. The MOP bombs, the very powerful bombs that were dropped by the B2s hit their targets directly and accurately and the result was devastating impact on the nuclear sites. Iran doesn’t seem to understand. So, they’re still talking about how to get nuclear capacity. And I would say to them, there’s no education in the second kick of a mule. You’ve been kicked once. You really don’t want to go through it again, but if it has to be, it will be.”
On Campus Protests: ‘Israel Is Not a Genocidal Nation’
“When I hear people say, well, Israel is a genocidal nation, I push back immediately. I said, let me tell you something. If Israel is trying to commit genocide, they’re really, really bad at it. They could have committed genocide in Gaza on October the 8th. This is not a genocidal nation, nor is it an apartheid nation. It’s not a nation in which people don’t have rights. Are you aware that there are Arabs in the Knesset? That there are Arabs in the Israeli Supreme Court and that an Arab judge sentenced a sitting president and a prime minister to prison? Are you aware that Arabs and Jews work side by side at Hadasa Medical Center and hospitals and factories and businesses all over the land of Israel and they get along?
This is an extraordinary country. It is amazing what has happened in this tiny little sliver of real estate. More Nobel science prize winners than any country on earth, disproportionate to its small population of 9 and a half million people. So, it is David in a world of Goliaths. And people ought to understand I wouldn’t mess with Israel. And I’m proud the US stands with Israel because I do believe the Bible when it says God will bless those who bless Israel, and he will curse those who curse Israel. I want to be blessed. I want my country to be blessed. And so individually and as the United States proud to say we stand with Israel.”
