Mike Huckabee Prepares for Israel Posting with Visit to Rebbe’s Ohel

by Chabad.org

3/23/2025, 7:49:22 PM

As he prepares to be confirmed the next United States ambassador to Israel, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee visited the Ohel, the resting place of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, in Queens, N.Y., on Sunday, March 23.

A long-time friend of the Jewish people, Huckabee and his wife, Janet, prayed at the holy site, which is visited by approximately 1 million people every year. Located at the Old Montefiore Cemetery, the Ohel is open 24/7 and has long been a place for reflection for private citizens and world leaders alike, Jews and non-Jews, each coming to the holy site to pray, seek inspiration and find solace. Millions more people from all over the world send their written prayers and supplications to the Ohel via email and post.

The Huckabees plan to attend a reception in their honor hosted later Sunday by the Israel Heritage Foundation. They were escorted to the Ohel by Rabbi Dr. Joseph Frager, executive vice president of the Israel Heritage Foundation, with his wife Karen, and Rabbi Dovid Katz, its executive director, along with his wife Chaya. On hand to greet them were Rabbi Motti Seligson, a spokesman for Chabad-Lubavitch; Rabbi Sholom Duchman, executive director of Colel Chabad, the leading food security NGO in Israel; and Rabbi Zalman Duchman, with Rabbi Yossi Vogel, of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute. Rabbi Elie and Dr. Naama Weinstock, Senior Rabbi of the Jewish Center of Atlantic Beach on Long Island rounded out the delegation.

After praying inside the Ohel, Huckabee visited the resting places of the Rebbe’s wife, Rebbetzin Chaya M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, and that of the Rebbe’s mother, Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson, of righteous memory.

Huckabee was nominated on Nov. 12 of last year by President Donald Trump to serve as his ambassador to Israel. His hearings, to move his nomination from committee to a full Senate vote, are scheduled to begin this week.

“After visiting the Ohel, I’m even more confident it will all work out,” Huckabee said.

“I was as surprised as anybody when I got the call and the President asked me to do it … ,” Huckabee told Arutz Sheva in an interview after being nominated. “Despite being taken a little off guard by it, there was never a doubt in my mind that if he asked me to do it, it’s a way to serve my country and a way to serve my president, but it’s also a way for me to be able to serve [the relationship between the United States and Israel] that to me is incredibly important … That’s why there is a great level of not only excitement but a deeply emotional reaction that I have had to this, because I see it as a calling.”

Huckabee has enjoyed a two-decade long relationship with Rabbi Pinchus and Esther Hadassah Ciment, directors of Chabad-Lubavitch in his home state of Arkansas. In 1996 Huckabee became the state’s first governor to join Chabad’s public Chanukah menorah lighting in Little Rock. He did so again late last year, when he substituted for his daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders—the current governor of Arkansa—in lighting the menorah with Chabad of Arkansas on the first night of Chanukah.

“You couldn’t get a Maccabee, so you’ve got a Huckabee here tonight,” the former governor told the crowd of more than 200 people to a chorus of laughter.

“Mr. Huckabee is a true agent of pirsumei nisa,” Rabbi Ciment said at the time, referring to the mitzvah to publicize the miracle of Chanukah to as great an audience as possible. “His commitment to being here with us, even as he prepares to embark upon his important work in Israel, is not lost on the Jews of Arkansas.”

Speaking to Arutz Sheva about his upcoming role, Huckabee underlined his deep belief in the integrity of the Land of Israel, which G‑d gave to the Jewish people. “I’ve never been willing to use the term ‘West Bank,’” he said. “There is no such thing. I speak of Judea and Samaria. I tell people there is no ‘occupation.’ It is a land that is occupied by the people who have had a rightful deed to the place for 3,500 years, since the time of Abraham.”