Trump Administration Ushers in New Era of US-Israeli Relations

JERUSALEM, Israel -- When Donald Trump stunned the world on Election Day, some knew it also signaled a transformation in the U.S.-Israeli relationship.

"Night and day. I think it will be dramatic. It will be immediate. There's no doubt in my mind," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said.

Huckabee sees a big difference over the last eight years.

"I'm very optimistic about these next few years. I think it's going to mark a dramatically improved relationship between Israel and the United States," he said.

Becky Norton Dunlop from the Heritage Foundation agreed.

"The one thing we can be very confident of with Donald J. Trump is that he's a man of change," said Dunlop.

A member of the Trump transition team, Dunlop believes Trump will take a new look at old Middle East problems.

"I think that's why people in Israel who have not liked the old way of doing things are hopeful and optimistic because at least they see in this new president, America is going to re-look at these old problems," Dunlop told CBN News.

Huckabee sees the failed two-state solution--the plan to give the Palestinians their own country side-by-side with Israel--as one old problem. Another one: the unwillingness to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. 

He expects David Friedman, Trump's choice for ambassador to Israel, will be part of addressing those changes.

"I think he believes we need to stop the BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions) movement. Very hurtful. Not just to Israelis but to the Arab population of Israel as well. I think he will lead in helping the embassy move. And I hope he will forever put an end to what I consider an unworkable, irrational policy of the so called two-state solution, frankly, that Republicans and Democrats have both put forward," Huckabee said.

"The signal is we're going to take a new look at things. We're putting someone in there who's not the same old, same old," agreed Dunlop.

With his decisions so far, it's fair to say that the Middle East hasn't seen anything quite like Donald Trump.