WASHINGTON -The U.S. Senate on Wednesday backed former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel, installing a staunch pro-Israel conservative in the high-profile post amid war in Gaza and relations complicated by U.S. tariffs.

The Senate backed Huckabee by 53 to 46, largely along party lines, with Republicans all backing President Donald Trump’s nominee and every Democrat except Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman voting against him.

An evangelical Christian, Huckabee has been a vocal supporter of Israel throughout his political career and a longtime defender of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Critics said the former Republican presidential candidate was too partisan to represent the United States given the sensitivity of negotiations to end the war in Gaza and avoid broader regional war.

But Huckabee’s supporters said he knew Israel well, having visited more than 100 times, and was well positioned to work closely with Trump.

“We urgently need a qualified ambassador in the region, and I have no doubt Mike Huckabee is that person,” Republican Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said as he urged support for the nominee.

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