The U.S. would prefer a negotiated agreement with Iran to dismantle its nuclear program, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said in an interview that aired on Israel’s Channel 12 on Saturday night.

“I think everybody would love to see, at least in the U.S., would love to see some type of peaceful settlement in which Iran comes to it and decides that there’s no future for them to have a nuclear device, and there’s no future for them to continue to threaten both Israel and the United States,” Huckabee said.

President Donald Trump is “adamant,” Huckabee said, that “Iran is not going to get a nuclear weapon, not going to enrich uranium, so they’re going to have to get that out of their heads.”

Trump has yet to decide if he will strike Iran or not, the ambassador added.

“President Trump is always hopeful for the best outcome – let’s never forget The Art of the Deal – and if he can get that, that’s ideal,” Huckabee said. “But if he can’t, he’s not afraid to do what he proved last summer when he instigated Midnight Hammer,” the operation in which the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites.

As to the timing for a decision, Huckabee said he was baffled by the decision taken by some airlines to cancel flights as though a strike was imminent. The ambassador posited that Trump is likely to announce a timeline: “Remember last year, he said ‘you have 60 days,’ [and] on day 61 [the American strike on Iran] happened.”

At the same time, Huckabee said, “there are things that could precipitate a more urgent sense of reaction. If Iran were to strike, I think all bets are off.” 

Huckabee also said that he “cannot imagine” that a strike on Iran would not be coordinated with Israel.

“The alignment between the United States and Israel is so incredible, more than most Israelis or Americans would ever assess,” he said. “We share intelligence that saves the lives of Americans and Israelis. We share military hardware, we share technology, and you have an excellent relationship between the president and the prime minister.”

Asked if Netanyahu had a significant role in the president calling off a strike on Iran on Jan. 14, Huckabee said “there is a genuine relationship, and there is a partnership that is unlike we have with any other country.”

In Gaza, Huckabee admitted that “there are some question marks” remaining as to how Hamas will be disarmed and who will do it, though Trump has insisted that “if they don’t give up their weapons, it’s going to be very bad.”

“You have every Arab country in the world signing the agreement saying this is going to happen,” Huckabee said. “I don’t trust Hamas to do anything, but I trust the rest of the world to say to Hamas, ‘you signed it, you’re on the line for it, if you don’t fulfil it, the whole world is going to rise up and take you down.’”

As to whether Israel will be the one to disarm Hamas, Huckabee said: “I don’t think the President is going to limit any action solely to Israel. Israel has enough blood in this. Everybody else at Sharm El Sheikh signed in ink; Israel signed in blood.”

Huckabee said that the U.S. is still hopeful that more countries will join the Abraham Accords, and that last week he met with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa to discuss “how do we, as Americans, help our host countries move toward better understanding the escalating tensions and hopefully moving toward the president’s agenda of joining the Abraham Accords. It would be historic. We’d love to see this happen, and I’m optimistic that we will see that.”

The ambassador was noncommittal as to whether Trump would visit Israel in May to receive the Israel Prize in person, but he said it’s “a huge honor” for the president to be the first non-Israeli to be granted the award.