The US ambassador to Israel has suggested that any future Palestinian state could be created in the wider Muslim world rather than on land currently controlled by Israel, signalling what could be a significant shift in American thinking on the long-running conflict. Mike Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas and a prominent evangelical leader, said in an interview with the BBC that Muslim countries “have 644 times the amount of land that is controlled by Israel” and could consider offering territory for a Palestinian state.
“If there is such a desire for a Palestinian state, there would be someone who would say, we’d like to host it, we’d like to create it,” Huckabee said. He noted that Israel, a country roughly the size of New Jersey, faces extraordinary security challenges and should not be expected to give up yet more land under pressure from international actors.
His controversial comments echo long-standing frustration in pro-Israel circles that the burden of compromise has repeatedly fallen on the Jewish state, despite its small size and the existential threats it faces. Huckabee called the traditional two-state solution “an aspirational goal” and questioned whether continuing to pursue it in its current form was productive or realistic.
In a separate interview with Bloomberg, Huckabee stated more clearly that the United States was no longer actively pushing for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. When asked whether the two-state solution remained US policy, he replied, “I don’t think so.” He said past administrations and European governments had championed the idea, but added, “The question is: Where should that be?”
He also criticised US allies like Britain and Australia for recently imposing sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers over alleged incitement of violence. While some Western governments have grown more critical of Israel’s leadership, Huckabee argued that such moves only embolden extremism on both sides and undermine Israel’s right to self-defence.
Since his appointment earlier this year, Huckabee has brought to the post a history of strong pro-Israel advocacy, rooted in both religious conviction and a belief in Israel’s democratic values. He has long rejected the narrative that Israel is an occupying power in the West Bank, referring to the area instead by its biblical names, Judea and Samaria. “There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria,” he said on a past visit. “They’re not settlements. They’re communities.”
Critics have accused him of adopting the rhetoric of Israel’s far-right, but his supporters argue that he is simply acknowledging realities on the ground. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted that a Palestinian state cannot be imposed from the outside and must emerge, if at all, from direct negotiations that address Israel’s security needs.
Earlier this year, Netanyahu drew international attention when he jokingly suggested that a Palestinian state could be established in Saudi Arabia. Huckabee’s remarks appear to build on that line of thinking, albeit in a more serious context.
The idea of relocating a future Palestinian state outside of historic Palestine has been floated before by some in Israel’s nationalist camp, and it reflects a broader belief that Arab and Muslim states should take more responsibility for resolving the issue. While more than 140 countries recognise Palestinian statehood in the West Bank and Gaza, key powers including the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany do not. France and Britain, however, have recently signalled they may take steps in that direction.
Huckabee’s critics accuse him of abandoning decades of bipartisan US policy going back to the 1993 Oslo Accords, but his defenders say he is injecting needed realism into a failed peace process. Trump’s 2020 peace plan, which offered Palestinians partial sovereignty over 70 per cent of the West Bank along with economic incentives, was rejected by the Palestinian Authority. Huckabee’s comments suggest that Washington may now be less inclined to repeat the offer.
Responding to the controversy, Huckabee stood firm. “I think Israel has a stronger claim to the land than most countries have to theirs,” he said. “People may not like what I say, but I’m not here to win a popularity contest. I’m here to stand for what’s right. And I believe history, faith and fact are all on Israel’s side.”
