U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee pulled no punches on Tuesday while speaking at The Jerusalem Post‘s Diplomatic Conference, delivering a scathing assessment of European diplomatic efforts and their impact on hostage negotiations with the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

I’ll tell you what destroyed the negotiations for the hostages was the European nations going and having this push for a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. I can tell you that was very detrimental, and it destroyed negotiations.
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee

The ambassador’s remarks represent some of the strongest criticism yet from the Trump administration regarding European diplomatic initiatives in the Middle East. Huckabee emphasized the fundamental challenges in negotiating with Hamas, drawing direct connections to the group’s actions on October 7.

I can’t say we were close to some type of resolution because Hamas has never been close to a resolution, and people have to understand: Whatever they pretend that they’re for, they’re not at the moment in which they have to make the agreement. The same people who did the barbaric, savage things on October 7 are the same people you’re expected to sit down and have a conversation and a negotiation with? Look at what they did on October 7. Good gosh, remember what they did?
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee

Huckabee characterized Hamas members as fundamentally different from typical diplomatic counterparts, arguing that conventional negotiation strategies are inadequate when dealing with the terrorist organization.

These are not normal people. These are not people that you deal with like you’re buying a car or you’re working out some trade agreement. These are horrible, savage people who did the most unspeakable things to other human beings, civilians, and so they don’t negotiate for hostages based on a moral code that we’re used to dealing with; Israel is used to dealing with.
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee

Trump Administration’s Position

The ambassador outlined President Trump’s clear stance on the hostage situation and Hamas’s future, emphasizing an all-or-nothing approach to resolution.

We all want the hostages home, and we want them home today. President Trump has said so many times, so clearly, so consistently: All the hostages come out at once and Hamas must disappear, go away, disarm, can’t stay. That’s as clear as he can be.
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee

Regarding European efforts to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state, Huckabee issued a strong warning, characterizing such moves as both legally problematic and diplomatically counterproductive.

We not only disagree, we strongly urge nations to not go there. For one, it violates Oslo. It is a stunt at the United Nations. It is not going anywhere; it is not going to create a Palestinian state.
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee

In a significant policy statement, Huckabee indicated that the United States would not oppose Israeli sovereignty claims over Judea and Samaria, emphasizing respect for Israeli sovereignty.

We respect Israel as a sovereign nation. We are not going to tell Israel what it can and cannot do any more than we would expect Israel to tell us what we can and cannot do.
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee

The ambassador described the U.S.-Israel relationship in unique terms, distinguishing it from other American international partnerships.

Sometimes [Israel] may disagree with the United States – that is their right. They are a sovereign nation, and they have every basis to say we disagree. We respect our partner. We have friends as the United States, and we do have allies, but I would say we only have one real partner.
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee

Huckabee noted the unprecedented levels of cooperation between the two nations, citing “levels of intelligence, military hardware and software, levels of cooperation and communication, the likes of which simply do not exist with any other country.”

In closing his remarks, the ambassador addressed terminology surrounding the disputed territories, advocating for historically rooted language.

West Bank is a very modern, nebulous term. It is more accurate to call it Judea and Samaria, the term that goes back two or three thousand years – and 80% of the Bible is about Judea and Samaria.
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee