Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said he would work to support President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon during his confirmation hearing to be U.S. ambassador to Israel on Tuesday, saying that he believes “it is better to bankrupt them than it is to bomb them.”

Huckabee made the comments before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after being asked by Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) if he agreed with the president that Iran must be prevented from having a nuclear weapon, pointing to reports that Trump told Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a recent letter on restarting nuclear talks that the Iranian leader would have two months to reach an agreement “or risk severe consequences.”

“I absolutely believe that the president is taking the right course of action. He did it in his first term. The maximum pressure bankrupted the Iranians. It made it impossible for them to fund the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas. They didn’t have the money,” Huckabee said. 

“When his term ended and President Biden took office, unfortunately they relaxed some of those pressures and the result was Iran had money again. They didn’t use it to help their people, they used it to murder people in Israel through the Houthis, through Hezbollah and through Hamas. I’m grateful to serve a president who recognizes that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and that it is better to bankrupt them than it is to bomb them.”

The former governor received a chilly reaction from Democrats on the committee, who pressed him over his past expressions of support for Israeli annexation of the West Bank and opposition to a Palestinian state. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), pressed Huckabee on how he reconciled his opposition to a two-state solution when the Saudis have conditioned any normalization deal with Israel on Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state. 

Huckabee said a “cultural shift” was necessary on the Palestinian side to allow for lasting peace in the region. 

“To see people who are raised up with an irrational hatred toward Jewish people, that cannot lead to any level of peaceful coexistence, whether it’s here, there or anywhere else on the planet,” Huckabee told Rosen.  

“There can be no peace and two-state solution if there continues to be education from the time a child is five and six years old, living under the Palestinian Authority that says it’s OK, in fact, it’s desirable to murder Jews and to reward them for it.”

Asked again about expanding the Abraham Accords without a commitment from Israel to support a two-state solution, Huckabee replied that this would occur “through the long process of seeing the culture change.”

“There has to be an admission that Israel has a right to exist. There has to be some recognition that there will be a change in the policy of educating children to hate Jews. That does not lead toward a peaceful coexistence anywhere at any time,” he said. 

"We're seeing the results of that antisemitism here in our homeland, which is very distressing to me… To see people who are raised up with an irrational toward Jewish people. And that cannot lead to any level of peaceful coexistence, whether it's here, there or anywhere else on… pic.twitter.com/RFeRqUY8CS

— Jewish Insider (@J_Insider) March 25, 2025

Rosen acknowledged that Huckabee “care[s] deeply about the bonds between the United States and Israel. I have no doubt that if confirmed, you will work tirelessly to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship, meet Israel’s defense needs and free all the remaining hostages held by Hamas.” 

The Nevada senator added that she was concerned, though, about his willingness to work toward maintaining bipartisan support for Israel in Congress and “encourage steps that could one day lead to a durable, lasting peace in the region, that finally provides Israel with long-term security.” 

“To have any chance of achieving what I just laid out, Israel cannot turn into a partisan football here on Capitol Hill,” Rosen said. 

Huckabee vowed, in response, to maintain equal lines of communication with Democratic and Republican offices. 

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) told Huckabee that he believed his top priority as ambassador needed to be getting the remaining hostages home, pointing to New Jersey native Edan Alexander being the last remaining American in Hamas captivity. Asked by Booker what Huckabee thought he could do in his role to help facilitate his constituent’s release, Huckabee replied that getting Alexander home “has to be the first item of business before anything else.”

Multiple Democrats on the committee pressed Huckabee on his long-standing support for Israeli settlement annexation, with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) calling him a “big hero of the Jewish settler movement on the West Bank.” While Huckabee acknowledged that he remains a supporter of annexation efforts, he noted that he recognized his role would not be to create policy but to enforce it. 

“If confirmed, it’ll be my duty to carry out the president’s policies, not mine. One of the things that I will recognize — an ambassador doesn’t create the policy, he carries the policy of his country and his president,” Huckabee said in response to a question from Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR). “I have previously supported it, Judea and Samaria, but it would not be my prerogative to make that the policy of the president.”

Asked by Merkley if he was supportive of forcibly displacing Palestinians from Gaza, Huckabee said no. 

Huckabee acknowledged the concerns of Democrats in his opening statement, telling the panel, “I have no illusion that everyone on this committee agrees with President Trump’s policies or his choices for roles in his administration. It is simply my hope that we will be able to engage in a meaningful discussion. I am not here to articulate or defend my own views or policies, but to present myself as one who will respect and represent the president.”

The former governor received a more receptive tone from committee Republicans, who engaged with Huckabee on his long-standing support for Israel. 

Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) praised Huckabee in introductory remarks as “the right person to be our representative to Israel at this critical moment, and I’m thankful to President Trump for selecting such a staunch and passionate advocate for the Jewish state.”

“Mike is not only qualified to serve as our ambassador to Israel, but he is uniquely suited for this role given the way he has championed Israel throughout his entire life, including as a steadfast supporter of Israel’s right to exist and defend itself.”

Asked by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) to share “how important it is to you that the United States stand arm-in-arm with Israel and not show any daylight between ourselves and our ally,” Huckabee replied: “Right now, Israel needs an ally and the Jewish people need to know that they have friends. And I am proud to have the right, as a Christian, to say to the Jews: You are not alone. We will not walk behind you but alongside you.”