ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Updated:

US Ambassador Mike Huckabee hinted on Tuesday that if Israel decides to apply sovereignty in parts of the West Bank, the United States would respect that decision and would not dictate terms to Jerusalem.

The ambassador’s comments came during an interview with The Jerusalem Post at its Diplomatic Conference, held at the Friends of Zion Museum media center in the capital.

“We respect Israel as a sovereign nation. We are not going to tell Israel what it can and cannot do any more than we would expect Israel to tell us what we can and cannot do,” Huckabee said when asked how Washington would respond if Israel advances a sovereignty measure that critics abroad describe as annexation.

“Sometimes [Israel] may disagree with the United States – that is their right,” the ambassador said. “They are a sovereign nation, and they have every basis to say we disagree. We respect our partner.”

Huckabee described the US–Israel relationship as unique in depth and trust. “We have friends as the United States, and we do have allies, but I would say we only have one real partner,” he said, pointing to “levels of intelligence, military hardware and software, levels of cooperation and communication, the likes of which simply do not exist with any other country.”


US Ambassador Mike Huckabee speaks at The Jerusalem Post at the Diplomatic Conference held at the Friends of Zion Museum media center in Jerusalem, September 16, 2025.
US Ambassador Mike Huckabee speaks at The Jerusalem Post at the Diplomatic Conference held at the Friends of Zion Museum media center in Jerusalem, September 16, 2025. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

Addressing a potential one-sided international recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations, Huckabee said Washington is urging governments to avoid that path.

Palestinian state recognition violates Oslo Accords, Huckabee argues


 “We not only disagree, we strongly urge nations to not go there,” he said. “For one, it violates Oslo. It is a stunt at the United Nations. It is not going anywhere; it is not going to create a Palestinian state.”

Huckabee also rejected the term “West Bank,” calling it imprecise and detached from the land’s historical context. “West Bank is a very modern, nebulous term,” he said. “It is more accurate to call it Judea and Samaria, the term that goes back two or three thousand years – and 80% of the Bible is about Judea and Samaria.”

The ambassador linked his remarks to a broader American posture on Jerusalem, referencing the City of David.

He said recent events underscored the view that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. “We dedicated [the City of David] as an American heritage site, not just as an Israeli site,” he said, adding that the United States regards Jerusalem as the “undisputed and undivided capital of the Jewish state.”

Huckabee noted continuity with President Donald Trump’s first term, when Washington recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the embassy there.