EXCLUSIVE | Ambassador Huckabee warns Iran: 'When diplomacy fails, the military steps in'

How concerned should Israelis, moderate Arab leaders, and Evangelicals be about U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to negotiate a nuclear deal with the Iranian regime?

With the president preparing to visit three Arab allies next week, ALL ISRAEL NEWS Editor-in-Chief Joel Rosenberg sat down with Trump’s new point man to Israel, Ambassador Mike Huckabee, for his first exclusive interview since arriving at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.

“Israelis are anxious,” Rosenberg told Ambassador Huckabee during the latest episode of his weekly program, THE ROSENBERG REPORT, which airs on TBN.

The conversation took place just days after the Iranian-backed Houthis launched their first successful missile attack on Israel. The missile landed in the vicinity of Ben Gurion International Airport, striking an open area and causing only light injuries and minor damage. Israel responded by targeting Yemen’s main airport and other Houthi targets.

“It’s sort of like everyday life in the world of an Israeli,” Huckabee said, recalling the moment. “In fact, a little earlier this morning, we heard a loud boom. I was out in the backyard with my two little dogs… It was miles from us. Didn’t even activate the Jerusalem sirens.”

“It’s part of the ethos of this incredible country that people wake up every day knowing there are threats to their very existence,” he added.

Rosenberg noted that in Israel, war is not just a national concern – it’s deeply personal.

“My son, my youngest of four, was inducted into the IDF today. He’s being drafted,” he shared.

Many Israelis, Rosenberg said, had assumed that President Trump – who pulled the United States out of a flawed nuclear deal with Iran – would seek a “quick deal, or no deal at all.” In other words, they believed he wouldn’t have much patience before opting for military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities in coordination with Israel.

But as it stands, Trump’s envoy for Middle East negotiations, Steve Witkoff, is taking a deliberate, week-by-week approach.

“Where is the president going with this? Does he really trust the Iranians to cut a deal with him?” Rosenberg asked.

“I don’t think anybody believes the Iranians will make a good deal unless it’s to protect themselves or their regime,” Huckabee replied. “And if they do, how can we trust they’ll keep it? For 46 years, the ayatollahs have ruled, and they’ve never honored a deal that shows they’re willing to be good neighbors.”

The ambassador urged Israelis and Evangelicals to pay attention to what Trump actually says.

“Don't listen so much to The New York Times and the Washington Post. It would have you to believe that he's about to resurrect a JCPOA 2.0 and go back and embrace the Obama policies,” Huckabee said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (nuclear deal), signed in 2015.

“He was the one that got rid of JCPOA in his first term. He's been very clear: The Iranians are not going to have a nuclear weapon. That's not on the table. There's no negotiation about that part of it.”

Huckabee emphasized that Trump would rather find a peaceful way for Iran to back off from its ambition for a nuclear weapon and avert an all-out war, but diplomacy by itself is not an end goal for the White House.

“I've talked to the president, I've talked to Steve Wyckoff, I've talked to Marco Rubio. I'm not hearing anywhere in the administration that there's a willingness just to get a deal to have a deal,” Huckabee told Rosenberg.

If a new agreement is reached, Huckabee warned, it would come with strict conditions: real inspections of military sites and sweeping restrictions.

“But when diplomacy fails, the military steps in,” he added.

Huckabee quoted Trump’s recent remarks to a U.S. reporter aboard Air Force One regarding military action: “We won’t be dragged into it – I’ll be leading it.”

That kind of clarity is exactly what moderate Arab allies want to hear during the president’s upcoming visit to the Middle East.

“Everyone in the region understands Israel is not their enemy. It just isn't the real threat. The real enemy, the real danger, the outlier in all of this is Iran,” Huckabee noted.

While Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, he is not currently scheduled to visit Israel.

Why?

“He's spent an enormous amount of time with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Washington,” Huckabee explained to Rosenberg. “I think that right now, he would love to see the Abraham Accords expanded. He would love to see a greater level of partnership within the region and the Gulf states. So, it makes sense.”

He also hinted that “some very significant economic opportunities” are expected to be announced during the trip.

Huckabee himself has spent a great deal of time with Netanyahu since he arrived in Israel.

“I’ve spent so much time with the Prime Minister since I got here that I told him, ‘If I spend any more time with you, you’ll have to put me on your family health insurance plan as a dependent. I’m spending more time with you than with my wife,’” Huckabee joked.

He described their relationship as “honest, forthright, and trusting,” and emphasized their decades-long history.

Watch the full interview with Ambassador Mike Huckabee on the TBN website.

THE ROSENBERG REPORT airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. EST and Saturday nights at 10 p.m. EST on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the most-watched Christian television network in the United States.