Tucker Carlson ‘DETAINED’ in Israel: Journalist ‘dragged into interrogation room’ as explosive interview sparks diplomatic firestorm
Conservative podcast titan Tucker Carlson said he and his team were detained in Israel on Wednesday following an interview with Donald Trump’s ambassador to the country.
The former Fox News host flew to Tel Aviv to meet with Mike Huckabee; Huckabee challenged Carlson to speak to him directly following an online debate about the country’s treatment of Christians.
Carlson, who frequently criticizes Israel for its military operations in Gaza, accepted Huckabee’s offer.
But as critics and pro-Israel activists began to accuse Carlson of allegedly not leaving the airport during his brief visit, Carlson revealed that he was greeted with hostility in the Middle Eastern country.
Carlson told the Daily Mail exclusively that shortly after the interview, Israeli authorities confiscated his passport and took one of his colleagues to an interrogation room.
“The men, who identified themselves as airport security, took our passports, took our executive producer into a side room, and then demanded to know what Ambassador Huckabee and I were talking about,” Carlson told the Daily Mail.
‘It was strange. ‘We’re out of the country now.’
Before the interview, Carlson posted a photo of himself and business partner Neil Patel in front of Ben Gurion airport on Wednesday with the caption ‘Greetings from Israel’.
Tucker Carlson said he and his team were detained at Ben Gurion airport and interrogated by Israeli officials after an interview with U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Wednesday.
Carlson frequently criticizes Israel for its military actions in Gaza and its treatment of Christians
Huckabee, who has known Carlson for more than three decades and previously worked with him at Fox News, invited Carlson to Israel to discuss their differences
‘It’s too bad that Tucker stayed at the airport despite so many invitations to see such wonderful places. “It’s a huge and obviously deliberate missed opportunity,” quipped David Friedman, the former US ambassador to Israel during Trump’s first term.
But two sources familiar with the matter told the Daily Mail that the Israeli government initially did not want to allow Carlson into the country, leading to a delicate negotiation involving the State Department.
According to Channel 13, the Israeli government decided not to prevent Carlson from entering the country in order to prevent a ‘diplomatic incident’.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Israel denied that Carlson had been detained and claimed that ‘numerous visitors to Israel, including Ambassador Huckabee and other diplomats, receive the same passport control questions that they receive as part of normal entry into and exit from Israel’.
“It is not true that Israel would allow Tucker into the country solely for an interview,” the representative added.
‘The only discussion the embassy had with Israel regarding his visit was to coordinate the landing of the private plane as part of ensuring the visit went smoothly. It was Tucker who chose to come and go in the country for only a few hours. ‘Tucker received the same positive treatment as all visitors to Israel.’
The Daily Mail has contacted the White House and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office for comment.
On his YouTube show last week, Carlson accused Huckabee of failing to provide proper protection for Christians in Israel.
Huckabee, who has known Carlson for more than three decades and previously worked with him at Fox News, responded by inviting him to Israel for a debate.
‘Why don’t you come and talk to me instead of talking about me?’ Huckabee wrote about X. Carlson welcomed the invitation and then stated that they were working to arrange the interview.
In the GOP, Israel’s popularity among young Republican voters and Trump supporters is at an all-time low.
The Carlson-Huckabee incident was reportedly an attempt by the Trump administration to prevent the controversy around Israel from fracturing the GOP’s conservative coalition ahead of the midterm elections.
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Carlson is a longtime supporter of Trump and ally of Vice President J.D. Vance
Carlson and business partner Neil Patel at Ben Gurion airport on Wednesday
Trump called on Carlson and others within the GOP to ease infighting with Republicans over Israel, according to former Fox News host Melissa Francis.
“Everyone is looking for a way to lower the temperature,” Francis told the Jerusalem Post. ‘President Trump is telling everyone, including Tucker, ‘Let’s get this done.’
Carlson is a longtime ally of Vice President J.D. Vance and speaks with Trump on a variety of issues, including foreign policy.
In the past month, Carlson visited the White House twice and met with Trump in the Oval Office on at least one known occasion.
