US ambassador to Israel dismisses reports of rift between the two countries

The United States is not distancing itself from Israel despite recent speculation of tensions between the two allies, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said during a private briefing at Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem.

Responding to a question from Jewish News about reports of growing friction between Jerusalem and Washington following the signing of a US-Iranian memorandum of understanding last week, Huckabee said “the idea that there’s a separation and divide between both countries is not going to happen.”

He added: “America and Israel will never get a divorce, because neither side can afford the alimony,” in reference to the extensive intelligence, operational and strategic cooperation between the two countries.

Huckabee argued that while much attention is given to American support for Israel, the relationship is mutually beneficial.

“You’ll often hear people say that America has done so much for Israel,” he said. “But do you know what Israel does for America? Because this is not a one-way street. Israel is a fraction of the size of the United States, yet what it contributes, whether they realize it or not, from having a cell phone to car navigation systems, is huge.”

The ambassador also hinted at the depth of military cooperation between the allies during recent operations in the Middle East.

“Some things are going to be classified probably for a long time in terms of the military operations that have happened through Operation Epic Fury,” Huckabee said. “But I can’t wait for the day when they’re declassified. And what people will realise is that there was an operational capacity that was shared between Israel and the United States that we’ve never, ever experienced before. Not in Vietnam, not in World War II, and not in Desert Storm (Gulf War from 1990-1991).

Huckabee is the first evangelical Christian to serve as US ambassador to Israel and is one of the world’s most prominent Christian Zionists.

At the Jerusalem press briefing, Ambassador Huckabee joked that his unwavering support for the State of Israel meant he regularly checks President Trump’s social media feed to make sure he still had a job. “Every morning I wake up and read his [Trump’s] social media to see if I’ve been fired,” he said. “He’s famous for firing people on social media in the middle of the night without telling them.”

Huckabee’s comments around America’s commitment to Israel were made days after US Vice President JD Vance issued a stark warning to Israeli officials who had publicly rebuked the Trump administration’s diplomatic engagement with the Islamic Republic, which some Israeli officials characterised as weak and conciliatory.

“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said at a press briefing on Thursday. “And he happens to be the head of state of the world’s superpower. If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”

Vance further highlighted Israel’s reliance on American military equipment and weapons and urged Israel’s leaders to “wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.”