US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee dismissed any notion that the historic partnership between Washington and Jerusalem could unravel, telling a Tel Aviv audience Monday that the alliance is too deeply rooted for either country to walk away from.
Speaking at a special Israeli-American Council America 250 celebration hosted by American-Israeli businesswoman and philanthropist Shari Arison, Huckabee addressed speculation that has swirled around the relationship amid recent friction between the two governments. He said that when he hears people ask whether America and Israel might split apart and lose this extraordinary partnership, his answer is that the two countries are not that stupid, and that he hopes they never will be.
Huckabee likened the alliance to a marriage, telling the crowd that when people ask him whether the US and Israel are going to break up, his answer is not a chance, because neither country could afford the alimony if they ever did. He said that is why the two nations will remain partners for as long as either exists.
The ambassador framed the relationship as resting on shared values, history and strategic interests, and has previously described the bond in similar terms, telling Arutz Sheva earlier this year that Israel is not merely a friend or ally but a partner in the fullest sense, jokingly comparing the US-Israel relationship to a marriage the two sides are in for the long haul precisely because neither can afford the cost of ending it.
