There are enough U.S. citizens living in Israel that it could be considered America’s “436th congressional district,” according to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
There are about “700,000 Americans living in Israel,” Huckabee told Newsmax’s Carl Higbie during an interview in Jerusalem.
“So when you help Israel, you’re helping 700,000 Americans be safe—that’s a full congressional district,” Huckabee said.
Huckabee was responding to a question related to concerns some Americans, specifically conservative Americans, have expressed over U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts. President Donald Trump has promoted an “America First” agenda, but Huckabee says this agenda does not mean “America only.”
Israel is also a purchaser of U.S. goods, mainly ammunitions. Israel tests U.S. “military equipment in real time combat operations,” Huckabee said. “We benefit from the testing that they do.”
“We benefit from the technology that they create, that becomes the Iron Dome and David’s Sling, and the Arrow Defense System that will help save American lives,” Huckabee continued. “So it’s not just that we give something, we get way more than we even give.”
Some conservative commentators, such as Tucker Carlson, have criticized U.S. support for Israel, arguing Israel should handle its own conflict in the Middle East. But Trump has remained largely consistent in his support for Israel.
Trump and Netanyahu have met multiple times since Trump retuned to the White House.
In June, Trump helped broker a deal between Israel and Iran to end a 12-day conflict that began when Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear program. The U.S. bombed three major nuclear sites in Iran in June, further diminishing the threat Iran has long posed to Israel.
Trump has also continued to encourage more Middle Eastern countries to join the Abraham Accords to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel.
“Now that the nuclear arsenal being ‘created’ by Iran has been totally OBLITERATED, it is very important to me that all Middle Eastern Countries join the Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Aug. 7. “This will insure PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.”