Huckabee’s
Israel land remarks condemned as ‘dangerous’ as controversy rumbles on
Arab and
Islamic governments issue joint statement denouncing the comments made on
Tucker Carlson podcast
Agence
France-Presse
Sun 22
Feb 2026 01.46 GMT
Arab and
Islamic countries jointly condemned remarks by the US ambassador to Israel,
Mike Huckabee, who suggested Israel had a biblical right to a vast swath of the
Middle East.
Huckabee,
a former Baptist minister and a fervent Israel supporter, was speaking on the
podcast of Tucker Carlson.
In an
episode released on Friday, Carlson pushed Huckabee on the meaning of a
biblical verse sometimes interpreted as saying that Israel is entitled to the
land between the Nile River in Egypt and the Euphrates in Syria and Iraq.
In
response, Huckabee said: “It would be fine if they took it all.”
When
pressed, however, he continued that Israel was “not asking to take all of
that”, adding: “It was somewhat of a hyperbolic statement.”
The
backlash widened sharply on Sunday as more than a dozen Arab and Islamic
governments – alongside three major regional organisations – issued a joint
statement denouncing the US diplomat’s comments as “dangerous and
inflammatory”.
The
statement, released by the United Arab Emirates’ foreign ministry, was signed
by the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar,
Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria and the State of Palestine, as well as
the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League and the Gulf
Cooperation Council.
They said
the comments contravene the UN Charter and efforts to de-escalate the Gaza war
and advance a political horizon for a comprehensive settlement.
Earlier,
several Arab states had issued unilateral condemnations.
Saudi
Arabia described the ambassador’s words as “reckless” and “irresponsible”,
while Jordan said it was “an assault on the sovereignty of the countries of the
region”.
Kuwait
decried what it called a “flagrant violation of the principles of international
law”, while Oman said the comments “threatened the prospects for peace” and
stability in the region.
Egypt’s
foreign ministry reaffirmed “that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied
Palestinian territory or any other Arab lands”.
The
Palestinian Authority said on X that Huckabee’s words “contradict US President
Donald Trump’s rejection of (Israel) annexing the West Bank”.
On
Saturday, Huckabee published two posts on X further clarifying his position on
other topics touched upon in the interview, but did not address his remark
about the biblical verse.
The
speaker of the Israeli parliament, Amir Ohana, praised Huckabee on X for his
general pro-Israel stance in the interview, and accused Carlson of “falsehoods
and manipulations”.
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