In his first speech since presenting his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog earlier this week, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee pledged his commitment to Israel and the Jewish people on Thursday at a joint Holocaust commemoration ceremony of the  B’nai B’rith World Center and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael–Jewish National Fund held at the B’nai B’rith Martyrs’ Forest “Scroll of Fire” Plaza outside Jerusalem.

“I do not understand antisemitism or the hatred that history has inflicted upon the Jewish people. The animosity toward them makes no sense; it is irrational, baseless, and directed at those who have done no wrong,” he told the standing-room-only audience of a few hundred people. “I come today not as a Jew, but as one who believes in ‘The Book,’ and I believe that those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed. I come to bring blessing, and I stand not behind you, but with you — because you are everything we hope the world will be.”

Receiving warm applause from the audience, Huckabee, a Baptist minister, also invoked the biblical prophets, recalling his first visit to Israel in 1973, when he said he had not seen as many trees as there were now surrounding the memorial: Located in the Jerusalem hills near Moshav Kesalon, the forest features 6 million trees planted in memory of Holocaust victims.

“To see this for us today is a beautiful reminder that God has been at work in this land. I’ve seen the prophets fulfilled in what they predicted, that the dry bones would live again and the desert would bloom,” he said.

The smell of smoke from a major wildfire that broke out nearby the day before — but has since been brought under control — still clung to the Jerusalem hills as the Yom HaShoah siren rang out in the distance, commemorating the 6 million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Ceremony participants included soldiers, youth groups, senior citizen groups, diplomats and visiting journalists, who stood in silence, some bowing their heads.

The ceremony is the only annual Yom HaShoah event dedicated specifically to commemorating the heroism of Jews who risked their lives to rescue fellow Jews during the Holocaust. 

Holocaust historian Patrick Henry and his wife, Mary Anne, who are family friends of Jewish rescuer Madeleine Dreyfus, who was among those honored at the ceremony, lit a torch in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

During the ceremony, the “Jewish Rescuers Citation” was awarded posthumously to 14 individuals who risked their lives to save fellow Jews during the Holocaust in France, Hungary, Libya, the Netherlands and Poland. The citation is a joint initiative of the B’nai B’rith World Center and the Committee to Recognize the Heroism of Jewish Rescuers During the Holocaust. Since its inception in 2011, 658 Jews have received the citation, which was meant to challenge the notion that Jews did not help one another during the Holocaust.

Speakers at the ceremony also included Zoltán Szentgyörgyi, Hungary’s ambassador to Israel, and rescued hostage Luis Har, who was taken captive by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak and freed after 129 days in a military operation by Israeli security forces.

Reflecting on his country’s history, including cooperation with the Nazis during World War II, Szentgyörgyi said Hungary “carries the burden of confronting its past.”

“Confronting the crimes of the 20th century is not just a historical task but a living responsibility, one that defines the kind of country we aspire to,” said Szentgyörgyi, whose country’s leaders have been criticized in recent years for employing antisemitic rhetoric, particularly against progressive Jewish philanthropist and Holocaust survivor George Soros. “‘Never again’ must not become an empty phrase repeated once a year. It must be a living commitment, one that obliges us to stand against terror, to speak out against antisemitism wherever it emerges, and to fight for the safety and dignity of all.” 

Har, 72, used the opportunity to thank his rescuers for risking their lives to free him and fellow hostage Fernando Marman, and called for the release of all the hostages who remain in captivity in Gaza, noting that his very presence at the ceremony was a “miracle.”

“How much has our people suffered throughout the generations? And yet, we are here. There is wisdom in the fact that when we are truly together, we are capable of anything — surviving, doing everything, despite it all,” Har said. “We never lost hope, and we always knew that the Jewish people don’t leave anyone behind. What kept us going in captivity was our faith, the knowledge that we would come out. The very fact that I am here is proof of that. We will continue to fight… to save all 59 who are still there. Every day that passes puts their lives more at risk. I ask everyone to be a united and special people — and to save them all.”