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U.S. President Donald Trump’s man in Jerusalem, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, brushed aside reports that tension has emerged between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Iran war and Israel’s escalating military operations in Lebanon.
“The reality is these are two people who have great respect for each other, who communicate probably more regularly than any two world leaders that are alive today,” Huckabee said in an interview with CBC News.
Huckabee, 70, sat down for the interview at a satellite facility of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem a day before Trump signalled the U.S. and Iran agreed to a draft agreement to end the war.
Netanyahu said Israel is not a party to the Iran deal.
The interview followed reports of a tense phone call in which Trump was reportedly frustrated with Netanyahu over his decision to resume attacks on Beirut last Sunday, days after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. During a phone call on June 1the U.S. leader called the Israeli prime minister “f—king crazy” and urged him not to attack the Lebanese capital.
Netanyahu momentarily relented. But just days later — after Hezbollah launched rockets toward northern Israel — he ordered strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbsa Hezbollah stronghold.
WATCH | Huckabee downplays Trump-Netanyahu tension:
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee acknowledges he was not on the expletive-filled call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu where Axios reports that Trump called Netanyahu ‘crazy.’ Huckabee says he’s been on subsequent calls and believes tension between the two leaders has been overstated.
Huckabee, who said he was not on the call but has been on subsequent ones, maintains that the two leaders remain close and mostly aligned.
“They share a lot of mutual interest,” he said. “They don’t always agree, but they more often than not do agree — and they agree on the ultimate principle, and that is that Israel is a strong partner to the United States.”
‘Exasperation’ in dealing with Iran
Ambassador Huckabee, in one of his first on-camera interviews since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, acknowledged the U.S. president’s growing frustration in getting Iran to agree to re-open the Strait of Hormuz and end the war.
“I can see in what he’s saying, there’s frustration, there is exasperation,” Huckabee said. “He feels like he’s giving them every opportunity to solve this diplomatically. And they have put it off and put it off and delayed.”
The interview took place on Wednesday, the day after the conflict erupted into a burst of retaliatory strikes following the downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz, testing the shaky ceasefire.
On social media, the U.S. ambassador said that “things may get a bit spicy in the neighbourhood soon.” In person, he was more diplomatic but made it clear that Trump’s patience was running out with the negotiations with Iran. “He’s a patient person, but it has its limits,” Huckabee said.
No to Israeli takeover of southern Lebanon
In an interview with conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson in February, Huckabee, a former pastor who calls himself a Christian Zionist, said he would be “fine” if Israel took control of all of the land Abraham’s descendants were granted by God in the book of Genesis, a territory that would cover much of the modern-day Middle East.
But when asked by CBC News if he agreed with a fringe Israeli group called Uri Tzafonwhich advocates for occupying and building permanent Jewish settlements in southern Lebanon, Huckabee was quick to say no.
“I don’t know of anyone in the Israeli government that supports that. Israel has made it very clear they’re not interested in annexing parts of Lebanon. That’s not on the table for them,” he said.
“Other people who say that may be, but there is nothing within the Israeli government that even that is an aspiration for them. What Israel would like to have is a peaceful, secure border. Full stop.”
Israel’s far right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for the annexation of Lebanese territory south of the Litani River.
The Israeli military currently occupies roughly one-fifth of Lebanon. More than 3,700 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since March 2, when the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah launched attacks from Lebanon into Israel following strikes on Iran, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Huckabee said he did not know that figure but could readily cite the number of Israeli soldiers killed by Hezbollah.
“It’s terrible. But who’s responsible for that? I would say Hezbollah is…. Just like Hamas is responsible for the destruction and devastation of Gaza,” he said.
Huckabee and his colleagues at the U.S. State Department are leading peace talks between Israel and Lebanonbringing officials from both countries together in Washington for rare face-to-face conversations, with the next meeting scheduled for June 22.
“The fact that you have Israel and Lebanon in the same room, that in itself is a historic moment,” he said.
But while representatives from the two governments hold regular meetings, the Israeli military and Hezbollah — which has rejected the ceasefire plan — continue to fight. The United Nations estimates that since the latest round of fighting began, more than one million Lebanese have been displaced.
Canada, other U.S. allies at odds over West Bank
On Tuesday, Canada, Britain, France, Norway and Australia announced sanctions against several Israeli settlers and entities for inciting and/or contributing to violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It’s a move that would have been very much in sync with the former U.S. administration under Joe Biden but not with the Trump administration.
“The sanctions were unfortunate, ill-timed, and it’s only pushing on one side of the challenge,” Huckabee said.
WATCH | Huckabee critical of Canada’s sanctions on Israelis:
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says Canada’s decision to sanction Israeli settlers and entities accused of committing violence against Palestinians was ‘unfortunate’ and ‘ill-timed.’
Attacks against Palestinians have risen dramatically since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping another 250. In response, Israel’s subsequent attacks on Gaza, which was controlled by Hamas, have led to the deaths of close to 73,000 Palestiniansaccording to health authorities, as well as mass displacement and destruction of much of the territory.
Since January 2025 through to April 2026, the United Nations has documented 2,595 attacks by settlers against Palestinians in 280 communities across the West Bank that have resulted in casualties and or property damage.
One of Trump’s first moves as president when it came to the Middle East was to rescind all of the sanctions that the U.S. had placed on Israeli settlers.
Huckabee acknowledged that Israel could and should do a better job of preventing settler violence as well as punishing those who commit acts of violence against Palestinians. But he did not say whether the U.S. would put pressure on Israel to do that.
WATCH | Huckabee ‘horrified’ by killing of Palestian baby:
Mike Huckabee says he was ‘horrified’ by the killing of a seven-month old Palestinian infant by an Israeli soldier in the West Bank. The Israeli military has said it is investigating.
“Look, if there are acts of terrorism that Israelis are committing against Palestinians, they should be fully adjudicated,” he said.
But Huckabee accused Canada and other allies of being “out of step” with the U.S., suggesting they had unfairly penalized Israel.
“I mean, they’ve accused Israel of things that are utterly ridiculous,” he said. “When some of these countries have accused Israel of genocide, that’s absurd.”
