Samaria council head gifts Huckabee mezuzah

(JNS) — U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee affixed a mezuzah on the entrance of his office in Jerusalem on Sunday, during his first official meeting with Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan.

A mezuzah (“doorpost” in Hebrew) is a piece of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, held in a case that is attached to the right doorframe of an entrance and in all of the rooms of a residence.

The mezuzah gifted to Huckabee by Dagan, a longtime friend of the new ambassador, was made by an artist from the Samaria town of Itamar and crafted of stones from Mount Ebal, the site of Joshua’s Altar.

“It is an honor for me to receive such a beautiful gift from Samaria,” said Huckabee in a video published by Israel’s Arutz 7 outlet. “It is a reminder, every time I enter my office, that there are people praying for the peace of Jerusalem. And we all pray for the peace of Judea and Samaria, and for the peace of all of Israel.”

Dagan told Huckabee, “I am very excited to fix this mezuzah. We—all the citizens of Samaria, all citizens of Israel, and all Jews around the world—appreciate you. I want to thank you for your heart, for your partnership, and for everything you are doing for Israel and for the United States.”

U.S. President Donald Trump is not expected to announce a decision on recognizing Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria in the coming weeks, Huckabee told JNS in Jerusalem on April 28.

“Those are important questions,” Huckabee said during a press conference following his keynote address at the JNS International Policy Summit, “but for the president, getting the hostages home, especially our Americans, is front and center above everything else.”

He continued, saying that there is “certainly time for that discussion, but right now, our priority is seeing the hostages safely returned, ensuring the Iranians are no longer aspiring to nuclear weaponry designed to murder and kill. Then we’ll take on the other issues.”