US envoy Mike Huckabee says it would be ‘fine’ if Israel took all Middle East land | Mike Huckabee
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee claimed to podcaster Tucker Carlson that Israel has a biblical right to take over the entire Middle East — or at least the lion’s share.
“It would be nice if they took it all,” Huckabee told Carlson during an interview published Friday. The Trump administration appointee and former Arkansas governor discussed with Carlson interpretations of Old Testament scriptures within the U.S. Christian nationalist movement.
Carlson, who made controversial claims that he was recently detained at the Tel Aviv airport in Israel, told Huckabee that God had told Abram that his descendants “from the valley of Egypt to the great river Euphrates – the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzis, the Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Refalis, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites”.
Carlson pointed out that this region in modern geography would include “basically the entire Middle East.”
“The Levant… Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon; it also makes up a large part of Saudi Arabia and Iraq,” Carlson said.
“I’m not sure it would go that far, but it would be a big piece of land,” Huckabee said.
He continued: “Israel is a land that God gave to a chosen people through Abraham. It was a people, a place, and a purpose.”
When pressed by Carlson about whether Israel had a right to the land, Huckabee replied: “It would be nice if they took it all.”
The interview with Huckabee was conducted in Israel during a trip that made headlines during Carlson’s visit. claimed to have Ben Gurion was subjected to “strange” treatment at the airport. But Israeli and US officials said he was subject to routine security interrogation.
Carlson is increasingly questioning U.S. support for Israel, shifting it from the center to the fringe of the Make America Great Again movement.
Huckabee represents a more traditional pro-Israel conservative stance.
After Carlson aired allegations that he received unusual treatment in Tel Aviv, former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said the former Fox News host was being a “scumbag.”
“Next time he talks like he’s an expert on Israel, remember this guy is a fraud!” Bennett said in a speech: X post on Wednesday.
Huckabee, own writing X said: “EVERYONE entering/exiting Israel (every country for that matter) has their passports checked and is routinely asked security questions.”
Israel Airports Authority made a statement. Statement sent to X On Wednesday: “Tucker Carlson and his entourage were not detained, delayed or interrogated.”
