JERUSALEM: Arab countries condemned on Saturday remarks by US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who appeared to suggest in an interview that 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 with far-right commentator and Israel critic Tucker Carlson.
In a podcast episode released Friday, Carlson pushed Huckabee on the meaning of a biblical verse sometimes interpreted as saying that Israel is entitled to the land between the river Nile 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."
Several Arab countries condemned the American diplomat in harsh terms.
Saudi Arabia described his words as "reckless" and "irresponsible", while Jordan said it was "an assault on the sovereignty of the countries of the region".
Egypt's foreign ministry wrote that it "reaffirms 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".
Carlson has recently found himself facing accusations of antisemitism, particularly following a lengthy, uncritical interview with self-described white nationalist Nick Fuentes – a figure who has praised Hitler, denied the Holocaust and branded American Jews as disloyal.
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