US Ambassador Huckabee tells Tel Aviv conference Israel is part of America's heritage

BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said at the Jewish Heritage Conference in Tel Aviv that the United States could not exist without Israel and the Jewish people, calling Israel part of America's historical and spiritual heritage. "If Israel and the Jewish element did not exist, our country could not exist," Huckabee said in his address, according to Turkish-language reporting of his remarks. He added that his role goes beyond representing U.S. interests, and includes underscoring the strategic and spiritual bond between Washington and Tel Aviv. The ambassador's remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump told Israeli media that Israel "would have been destroyed long ago" without his intervention. Huckabee's comments arrived as the nature of U.S.-Israeli relations was being widely discussed. At the conference, Huckabee stressed religious and historical ties in his speech. No further details on additional participants or follow-up statements were immediately available.