Israeli President Isaac Herzog officially received the credentials of U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee on Monday.
“Usually, when a new ambassador arrives, I say to him or her, ‘Welcome to Israel.’ To you, Mike, I say, ‘Welcome Home, Mike, dear brother of Israel,’” Herzog said in his welcome address.
“You have been to Israel so many times. Like Abraham our forefather, you’ve heeded the command to walk the Land from top to bottom and you’ve introduced countless others to it’s physical and spiritual beauty,” he said.
Ambassador Huckabee thanked the President for his welcome and said he had come to stand with the State of Israel and the Jewish people because, “I believe that it is not simply a geopolitical position, but a divine position.”
Huckabee continued, “I stand here today fighting back tears because I am here, not just as a visitor, but now, for the next few years, this will be my home. Janet (his wife) and I come with an extraordinary sense of awe and wonder and deep gratitude to President Trump for giving us this extraordinary privilege.
“I am here with the mission to stand with the people of Israel for peace and prosperity — to serve in a role that I pray will see times when the Israeli people can go to bed at night, not fearing that a siren will awaken them and force them into a shelter because enemies are irrationally dedicated to destroying them.
“I long for the day when that young Israeli mother puts her babies to bed at night and does not fear that some harm will come upon them as they sleep — but that they will rest with peace, and continue to live with the extraordinary resilience of the Israeli people, which I’ve come to admire as second to none,” he said.
Huckabee said that the Iranian regime continues to be a challenge and threat not just to the peace of Israel but also to the U.S.
“I constantly remind people that the Iranians have always said ‘Death to Israel’, and chapter two is ‘Death to America’. It has always been their desire that Israel would be the opening act, and then it would be America’s turn to face destruction,” the former Arkansas governor said.
“I always want to remind my American colleagues that we stand with Israel, first of all, because we share the values of the Bible. We share the understanding that the Judeo-Christian foundation is the foundation of all Western civilization. Without it, there is no sense of democracy, and love, appreciation, and respect for the individual,” he added. Herzog also received the credentials of several other new ambassadors, including India, Canada, Belarus, the Dominican Republic, and Angola.
Watch Ambassador Huckabee’s full speech in the video above.
