The United States no longer supports a Palestinian state in Israel’s “Judea and Samaria” (the West Bank) regions, declared U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who suggested it could be formed “elsewhere in the region” — while warning Iran over uranium enrichment and insisting Hamas must free hostages before any end to the Gaza war.
Speaking to Bloomberg in an interview published Tuesday, Huckabee said, “Unless there are some significant things that happen that change the culture, there’s no room for it,” adding that such changes likely won’t happen “in our lifetime.”
When asked if a Palestinian state remains a U.S. policy goal, Huckabee replied: “I don’t think so.”
He further questioned the assumption that such a state must be located in the Israeli-controlled territory commonly known as the West Bank. “Does it have to be in Judea and Samaria?” he asked, invoking the biblical name favored by many Israelis and evangelical Christians.
Instead, the ambassador, a former Arkansas governor and longtime supporter of Israeli sovereignty over its liberated territories, floated the idea that a Palestinian entity could instead be established in territory ceded by another Muslim-majority country.
On October 7, 2023, the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas, which ruled the coastal enclave since 2007, launched a brutal and unprecedented massacre in Israel — the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust — carrying out torture, rape, execution, immolation, and the abduction of hundreds of civilians, including dozens of Americans. Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza, many believed to be dead.
Huckabee placed full responsibility for the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, telling Bloomberg that the conflict will not end until the terrorist organization releases its remaining hostages.
He also voiced support for humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza that avoid empowering Hamas, praising the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a joint U.S.-Israeli initiative, for distributing food and supplies while denying access to the Iran-backed terrorist group
On Iran, Huckabee echoed President Donald Trump’s firm stance against nuclear enrichment, reiterating that the administration will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic.
“Iran’s not going to have a nuclear weapon. They aren’t going to enrich, and they’re going to have total dismantlement,” he said, adding that “nothing’s off the table” regarding potential military action.
The comments, which mark a significant departure from decades of U.S. foreign policy that supported a two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders, come as European and Arab states prepare to meet in New York next week to push for a renewed Palestinian state led by the Palestinian Authority, amid efforts to end the current conflict.
In April, Huckabee pushed back on a call from the World Health Organization to pressure Israel on Gaza aid, calling instead for international focus on Hamas to “sign an agreement so that humanitarian aid can flow into Gaza to the people who desperately need it.”
Huckabee’s comments reinforced the view that humanitarian suffering in Gaza is inseparable from Hamas’s continued control, and that pressuring Israel without demanding accountability from Hamas risks further emboldening the terror group.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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