It was a groundbreaking, remarkable meeting. The Nasi of Dirshu, Rav Dovid Hofstedter met with incoming US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee earlier this month. It was a wide-ranging conversation that confirmed Huckabee’s stature as an oheiv Yisrael who feels a deep connection with the land of Israel and the Jewish People. Moreover, during the course of the conversation, it became clear that Mr. Huckabee has an especially deep admiration for the religious community and those scholars who spend their days and nights studying the Torah, the foundational document that clearly delineates Eretz Yisrael as the land of the Jewish People. 

After discussing Mr. Huckabee’s own harrowing visit to the Kever of Yosef Hatzaddik in Shechem one dark night at 2:00 a.m., Rav Dovid delicately brought up the topic of the compulsory draft in Israel for all young man. He asked the incoming Ambassador if he, “Sees the future of Israel as a country that will include scholars. Do you see wholesale drafting of all young people? Or should there be diversity?” 

Rabbi Hofstedter related that he remembered that even when the United States had a compulsory draft back in the days of the Vietnam War, not everyone was drafted. There were exceptions for divinity students and the like.

Rav Hofstedter stressed that he was not posing his question to the Ambassador in his official capacity but rather on a personal level. “How do we go forward?” Rav Dovid asked. “Yes, Israel finds itself threatened existentially, surrounded by enemies, but this can also involve an existential threat to the heart and soul of the country. If everyone will be drafted who will carry the spiritual legacy of the country. Should there be scholars that remain to maintain the values, the soul of the country?”

On a Personal Level, Not on a Policy Level

Mr. Huckabee was remarkably forthright in framing his answer, saying, “The diplomatic answer is that it would be completely inappropriate for me to try to advise and steer the policy of Israel. My job is to advise the United States regarding its policy on Israeli affairs, not to advise the Israelis about their own affairs.” 

However, Mr. Huckabee didn’t stop there. He pivoted to express his own personal views. “On a practical and personal level, not on a policy level,” Huckabee said, “there are many ways that people can serve their country and not all of them are military. We see in our own country… that [there are those who for reasons of conscience] who do not serve in combat, but they serve in other capacities, where they are needed.” 

Ambassador Huckabee suggested that perhaps in Israel they can also make similar calculations as they have done in America and realize that there are other ways to serve the country aside from the combat roles. 

It was clear that Ambassador Huckabee was expressing that, in his personal view there is a great role to be played by the scholars who preserve the soul of the country just as there is a critical role that the combat soldiers have in defending the physical body of the country and that the two roles are not contradictory, but rather they compliment one another. 

The Ambassador concluded by highlighting that he knows this is a delicate issue and a contentious issue in Israel, but he pointed out that it is so important to realize that “without the biblical foundation, there really is no basis for the Jewish claim of the land of Israel.”

Without the Torah “it is just another geo-political entity. What makes it so special,” Mr. Huckabee said with feeling, “is that it is the land that G-d has chosen and deeded to the Jewish people… There is a document for this, there is a blueprint for this, and it is the document that was given to Abraham. That should be the blueprint!”

At the meeting, Mr. Huckabee also spoke about the fact that he was a non-Jew serving as the ambassador to Israel. He told Rav Hofstedter, “Some people say, ‘Oh my Heavens, we need a Jewish guy to be ambassador.’ But here’s what I have heard Rabbi, from a number of people. They said that in a way this is going to be better [than having a Jew as ambassador]. If a Jewish person is ambassador, everyone says, ‘Oh, of course he is pro-Israel, he is Jewish.’ A non-Jew creates a bigger impact when he is pro-Israel.” 

Mr. Huckabee also mentioned that this was a job that was offered to him without his asking, and he accepted because he felt that he can make a real difference in the region. 

Of Diversity, Antisemitism and a Blessing

Another fascinating aspect of the visit was the effort Rav Hofstedter made to ensure that Mr. Huckabee would be well acquainted with the charedi community and their spiritual sages and leaders. He offered to accompany and introduce the Ambassador after he is confirmed and has taken up his post in Israel, to the senior Gedolei Yisrael. 

Mr. Huckabee was very eager to take Rav Hofstedter up on his offer saying that he would welcome the unique opportunity to meet, interact with and hear the view of the senior sages of Israel. Rav Hofstedter also stressed how important it would be for the Ambassador to get to know the charedi population firsthand rather than from the caricatures in which they are painted in the media. “There are thousands of American citizens who are charedim living and studying in Israel,” Rav Hofstedter shared. Mr. Huckabee, in turn, expressed his deep desire to get to know them first hand. 

During the meeting, an additional pivotal topic of conversation was the issue of antisemitism. Rav Hofstedter said, “We’re going through a very difficult time now. You just can’t believe that it’s such a short period after the Holocaust that the world has forgotten it all. We are under attack around the world, especially the Orthodox Jews who are visibly Jewish and are easy targets. The people of the world can have tolerance for everything and almost anybody, but not Orthodox Jews. It’s so sad. And we are under assault in America. The yeshivah system, the Torah school system in New York, is under assault.
“Not everyone has an appreciation that this is the community that adheres to the Bible. The woke culture that is affecting so much of Western civilization affects Israel as well. They’re not immune from it by any means.”

Mr. Huckabee clearly showed his recognition regarding the differences between the various communities in Israel, saying, “There is a big difference between the lifestyle in Tel Aviv and the lifestyle in Jerusalem. I think it’s a fair assessment to say wokeism is alive and well in many parts of Tel Aviv and Herzliya.”

Aside from Mr. Huckabee’s deep understanding of the role that Torah learning plays in defense of Eretz Yisrael, his final parting words showed his feelings and understanding of Jewish tradition. When he took leave of Rav Hofstedter he said, [the blessing is] “Next Year in Jerusalem. I hope it is THIS year in Jerusalem!”