US ambassador to Israel claims the country has a right to much of the Middle East

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Arab and Muslim nations strongly condemned comments Saturday by the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabeewho declared that Israel had a right to much of the Middle East.

Huckabee made the comments in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that aired Friday. Carlson said that, according to the Bible, Abraham’s descendants would receive lands that today would encompass essentially the entire Middle East, and asked Huckabee if Israel had a right to those lands.

Huckabee replied, “It would be nice if they took everything.” Huckabee added, however, that Israel was not seeking to expand its territory and had a right to security on the land it rightfully holds.

His comments triggered an immediate reaction from neighboring Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry called Huckabee’s comments “extremist rhetoric” and “unacceptable,” and called on the State Department to clarify its position on them.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry called his remarks a “blatant violation” of international law, adding that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or other Arab lands.”

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

There was no immediate comment from Israel or the United States.

Since its creation in 1948, Israel has not had fully recognized borders. Its borders with its Arab neighbors to have changed as a result of wars, annexations, ceasefires and peace agreements.

During the Six Day War in the Middle East in 1967Israel 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 part of a peace agreement with Egypt following the war in the Middle East of 1973. It is also unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

Israel tried to deepen control of the occupied West Bank in recent months. He greatly expanded construction in Jewish colonieslegalized the outposts and made significant bureaucratic changes to its policy on the territory. US President Donald Trump said he will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank and offered firm assurances that it would block any attempt to do so.

Palestinians have for decades demanded an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital, a demand supported by much of the international community.

Huckabee, an evangelical Christian and staunch supporter of Israel and the West Bank settlement movement, has long opposed the idea of ​​a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian people. In an interview last year, he said he don’t believe referring to Arab descendants of people who lived in British-controlled Palestine as “Palestinians”.

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

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

Huckabee responded, “I’m not sure we’d go that far. I mean, it would be a big field.”

Israel has encroached on more land since the start of its war with Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the attack carried out by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Under the current ceasefire, Israel has withdrawn its troops to a buffer zone but still controls more than half the territory. Israeli forces are expected to withdraw further, although the ceasefire agreement does not give a timetable.

After Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted In late 2024, the Israeli army took control of a demilitarized buffer zone in Syria created as part of a 1974 ceasefire between the two countries. Israel said the move was temporary and aimed at securing its border.

And Israel still occupies five perched posts on Lebanese territory after its brief war with Hezbollah in 2024.

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Magdy reported from Cairo.