Mike Huckabee says he was 'excoriated' for claiming US wouldn't exist without Israel

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee claimed during a speech in Jerusalem on Sunday that he's been "excoriated" for recently claiming that "without Israel and its Jewish foundation, there would be no America."

"So, this week I got into a little bit of controversy unintentionally, because I said something that I've been saying for years," Huckabee said during his keynote address at the 2026 Jerusalem News Syndicate (JNS) Policy Summit, a multi-day event that has also featured speeches from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Fox News host Mark Levin and Evangelicals such as Pastor Mike Evans.

"It wasn't anything new, but I made the point, and I want to make it with you: one of the reasons that our nations are tied together is because it is upon the Jewish foundation that Christianity was formed, and upon the Jewish and Judeo-Christian foundation, Western civilization was formed, and without that, there would not be an America. It is as simple as that," Huckabee said.

Amb. Huckabee defends his statement that America wouldn't exist without Israel: "Americans—whether they understand it or not—need to be grateful to God for the Jewish people!" pic.twitter.com/YCUIxGiNdi

— Chris Menahan ???????? (@infolibnews) June 21, 2026

"I had people excoriating me from around the world, saying, 'How dare you say it?' I would say, 'How dare you flunked history?' Are you not aware that our Founders wanted to put, as the seal of America, the parting of the Red Sea? That in the House of Representatives in the United States there is a marble fixture of Moses? Not of Cicero, not of Aristotle or Plato; of Moses, because our history is tied more to Mount Sinai than it is to Athens or Rome. It's tied to neither of them. It's tied to Israel."

Moses is one of 23 marble bas-relief portrait plaques of famous lawgivers that were installed high on the walls of the U.S. House of Representatives chamber during post-World War II renovations. Though Moses is the central figure among the historical portraits, other figures include two lawgivers from ancient Greece and two from ancient Rome.

Huckabee was apparently referencing backlash he faced online in recent days for a clip from a speech he made June 16 at the International Conference on Israeli Heritage in Judea and Samaria, held at Herodion National Park in the West Bank.

In contrast to remarks President Donald Trump made during the G7 summit that "without the U.S., there would be no Israel," Huckabee claimed the U.S. wouldn't exist without Israel.

Claiming his job as U.S. ambassador to Israel includes "[representing] the importance of Israel to the United States," Huckabee said, "It is your heritage, without a doubt, but it is also the heritage of the United States. Without Israel, without the Jewish foundation, there would not be America. We owe our very existence to what happened in this land."

Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, has increasingly faced scrutiny and criticism in recent months from those who question the extent to which his dispensationalist theology and eschatological views regarding modern-day Israel are influencing his ambassadorial role to the country.

During a tense interview with political commentator Tucker Carlson less than a week before the conflict in Iran began, Huckabee prompted international backlash when he said "it would be fine if [Israel] took it all" regarding the vast land promises God made to Abraham in Genesis 15:18. Huckabee immediately walked back what he said as "somewhat of a hyperbolic statement" while maintaining that Israel has no intention of conquering the wider region.

Huckabee's latest remarks come amid growing tensions between the U.S. and Israel over the memorandum of understanding with Iran.

During a press briefing at the White House last week, Vice President JD Vance pushed back against criticisms of the deal from Israeli officials such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. He urged Israeli officials to remember the unique support they have received from Trump and the U.S.

"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 said.

"What is your exact proposal?" he also said in response to such officials during a New York Times interview released earlier on Thursday. "You're a country of 9 million people. You can't just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have."

Ben-Gvir responded to Vance's comments by claiming his proposal for the U.S. is "to deal with the Nazis of the 21st century, just as the United States dealt with the Nazis of the 20th century."

On Friday, Ben-Gvir drew widespread condemnation for an X post that said in part: "For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn!" His post was flagged by X for violating its community standards against violence, but was allowed to remain accessible because of Ben-Gvir's role as a public figure.