At Governor Mike Huckabee’s confirmation hearing, what stood out was his depth of knowledge and understanding of Israel, Gaza, and the Middle East. Huckabee, a great friend of Israel, said he wouldn’t push his own agenda but would represent that of President Trump.

Huckabee, President Trump’s pick for ambassador to Israel, testified that October 7 clearly shows why Hamas has to go.

“This was not simply a cold-blooded murder in which people came across the borders and shot innocent people. They massacred them,” Huckabee said. “Hamas is not a government. It is not a standing army. It is a terrorist organization, and they acted like it. And they must be treated as such."

Huckabee says America and Israel are tied to each other spiritually.

“We ultimately are people of the Book. We believe the Bible. And therefore, that connection is not geopolitical. It is also spiritual.”

The former Arkansas governor suggested it’s ridiculous to insist that Israeli land is the only place there can be a Palestinian state.

“Israel is a tiny, little strip of land. You know that. We all do. It's the size of New Jersey. But Muslim countries control 644 times the amount of land that Israel has,” he said emphatically. “The Palestinians were given the opportunity in the year 2000, when Ehud Barak from Israel put everything on the table, virtually said, ‘Here it is. You get it all,’ and the Palestinian Liberation Organization walked away from it.”

America, he insists, must face the fact that the Iranian regime is as much a danger to the U.S. as it is to Israel.

“Israel is the appetizer, and we're the entrée,” Huckabee stated. “They’ve said that their ultimate goal is to first take care of the Little Satan — they identify as Israel — and then come after the Great Satan. Senator, that’s us. And whatever is happening to Israel, it is the canary in the coal mine.” 

If confirmed, he vows to work with the Trump administration in securing peace in the Middle East.

Huckabee, who has visited Israel about 100 times, came to Israel a few months after October 7 and went to one of the hardest-hit communities, Kfar Aza.

“This is not a political issue. It’s not socioeconomic. It’s not geographical. This is not horizontal — left and right — this is vertical. This is up and down — heaven and hell. This is good versus evil. And this is evil, what happened here,” Huckabee told CBN News at the time.

In Israel, the Knesset passed the 2025 state budget on Tuesday, preventing the collapse of the government and new elections. The vote enables Netanyahu to continue as prime minister for at least another year.

The Foreign Ministry is receiving an unprecedented budget increase to fight anti-Semitism.

“Public diplomacy is a crucial and life-saving issue, just like weapons on the battlefield,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said.

“We must simultaneously conduct a diplomatic campaign for leaders, foreign ministers, and elected officials, while also conducting a public diplomacy battle to shape global public perception,” Sa’ar said.

As the battle continues in Gaza, a rare occurrence a video emerged of hundreds of Palestinians marching and openly rejecting Hamas rule.  Flying a white flag, they also demanded an end to the war. 

One speaker at the protest said, “We are a people of peace… We say: yes to peace, no to tyrant rule which threatens the destiny of our people.”