Huckabee claims it would be ‘fine’ if Israel took | Political News

Arab and Muslim nations on Saturday sharply condemned feedback by the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who said Israel has a proper to a lot of the Middle East.

Huckabee made the feedback in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that aired Friday. Carlson said that according to the Bible, the descendants of Abraham would obtain land that today would embrace primarily the complete Middle East, and requested Huckabee if Israel had a proper to that land.

Huckabee responded: “It would be fine if they took it all.” Huckabee added, however, that Israel was not trying to increase its territory and has a proper to security in the land it legitimately holds.

His feedback sparked quick backlash from neighboring Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States, which in separate statements called them extremist, provocative and not in line with the U.S. place.

Saudi Arabia’s international ministry described Huckabee’s feedback as “extremist rhetoric” and “unacceptable,” and called for the State Department to make clear its place on them.

Egypt’s international ministry called his feedback a “blatant violation” of worldwide law, including that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or other Arab lands.”

“Statements of this nature — extremist and lacking any sound basis — serve only to inflame sentiments and stir religious and national emotions,” the League of Arab States said.

There was no quick remark from Israel or the United States.

Since its institution in 1948, Israel has not had absolutely acknowledged borders. Its frontiers with Arab neighbors have shifted as a consequence of wars, annexations, ceasefires and peace agreements.

During the six-day 1967 Mideast warfare, Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan, Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria. Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula as half of a peace deal with Egypt following the 1973 Mideast warfare. It also unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

Israel has tried to deepen control of the occupied West Bank in current months. It has tremendously expanded construction in Jewish settlements, legalized outposts and made important bureaucratic modifications to its insurance policies in the territory. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he won’t permit Israel to annex the West Bank and has provided strong assurances that he’d block any transfer to do so.

Palestinians have for a long time called for an impartial state in the West Bank and Gaza with east Jerusalem its capital, a declare backed by a lot of the worldwide group.

Huckabee has long opposed the concept of a two-state resolution for Israel and the Palestinian people. In an interview last 12 months, he said he doesn’t consider in referring to the Arab descendants of people who had lived in British-controlled Palestine as “Palestinians.”

In the latest interview, Carlson pressed Huckabee about his interpretation of Bible verses from the e book of Genesis, where he said God promised Abraham and his descendants land from the Nile to the Euphrates.

“That would be the Levant, so that would be Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon. It would also be big parts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq,” Carlson said.

Huckabee replied: “Not sure we’d go that far. I mean, it would be a big piece of land.”

Israel has encroached on more land since the start of its warfare with Hamas in Gaza.

Under the current ceasefire, Israel withdrew its troops to a buffer zone but still controls more than half the territory. Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw additional, though the ceasefire deal doesn’t give a timeline.

After Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted at the end of 2024, Israel’s navy seized control of a demilitarized buffer zone in Syria created as half of a 1974 ceasefire between the international locations. Israel said the transfer was momentary and meant to secure its border.

And Israel still occupies 5 hilltop posts on Lebanese territory following its temporary warfare with Hezbollah in 2024.