Israel has 'Biblical right' to take over all of Middle East, claims US envoy Huckabee

 

Israel has 'Biblical right' to take over all of Middle East, claims US envoy Huckabee

 

US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, tells commentator Tucker Carlson that it would be "fine" for Israel to take over an area encompassing all of Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and parts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

 

February 21, 2026

https://www.trtworld.com/article/51a0af83a11b

 

In a high-stakes interview that has exposed a deep rift within the American Republican coalition, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has told commentator Tucker Carlson that Israel possesses a "Biblical right" to claim a vast swathe of land spanning the modern Middle East.

 

During the sit-down at Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday, Carlson pressed the ambassador on the geographic boundaries of land grants described in Genesis 15, which include the territory from the Nile to the Euphrates.

 

When asked if Israel would have the right to take over the entire region based on this "original deed," Huckabee responded: "It would be fine if they took it all."

 

That an area that would include entire Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and parts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

 

"Israel is a land that God gave, through Abraham, to a people that he chose," Huckabee said, describing the Jewish people's connection to the land as a combination of "a people, a place, and a purpose."

 

While he later claimed that the Israeli government is not currently seeking to expand to those ancient borders, affirmation of Huckabee, a Baptist minister and an avowed Zionist, of the theological claim has triggered immediate international condemnation and reignited debates over the influence of Christian Zionism on US foreign policy.

 

Carlson interview of the US envoy stemmed from prior public disputes between the two over Israel's policies, particularly regarding Christians and US foreign policy.

 

Carlson has been accusing Huckabee of prioritising Israeli interests over American ones.

 

Carlson has previously interviewed both a Palestinian Christian and a Jordanian Christian, focusing on their experiences of harmonious co-existence within Muslim-majority societies.

 

These discussions also addressed the oppressive policies enacted during the Israeli military occupation.

 

Israeli leaders’ Latvia or Poland roots

The interview, which aired on Friday, quickly devolved into a heated exchange regarding the universal application of national rights.

 

Carlson, who has grown increasingly critical of unconditional US support for Israel, questioned why Huckabee defends the indigenous rights of Eastern European Jews while appearing more hesitant to affirm the same rights for the Irish or for Palestinian Christians whose families have lived in the Levant for two millennia.

 

"How do we know that Bibi [Netanyahu's] ancestors ever lived here?" Carlson asked, pointing out that many Israeli leaders have roots in Latvia or Poland.

 

"There are a lot of people in the territory that Israel controls today... who through genetic testing, we can know their families have been here for thousands of years. They have less of a right to the land than someone whose ancestors lived in Latvia?"

 

Huckabee dismissed the genetic argument, insisting that the "biblical, historical, and ethnic" connection creates a "very strong case" that is validated by archaeology.

 

"The stones cry out," the ambassador said, referencing the City of David excavations as proof of a 3,800-year continuous link.

 

 

Gaza genocide numbers

The conversation turned sharply toward the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israel has killed and wounded tens of thousands of Palestinians, wiped off all neighbourhoods and displaced almost entire 2.3 million residents in its genocide.

 

Huckabee falsely claimed that the Israel military have maintained a "lower proportion of civilians killed in urban warfare than in any urban conflict in modern history."

 

However, the ambassador struggled to provide concrete figures when pressed by Carlson.

 

After initially stating he did not know the exact death toll, Huckabee later suggested that if one accepted the Gaza Health Ministry's figures —