US ambassador causes uproar by claiming Israel has a right to much of the Middle East

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 4:25 PM EST, February 21, 2026


TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Arab and Muslim nations on Saturday sharply condemned comments by the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who said Israel has 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, the descendants of Abraham would receive land that today would include essentially the entire Middle East, and asked Huckabee if Israel had a right to that land.

Huckabee responded: “It would be fine if they took it all.” Huckabee added, however, that Israel was not looking to expand its territory and has a right to security in the land it legitimately holds. His comments sparked immediate backlash from neighboring Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry described Huckabee’s comments as “extremist rhetoric” and “unacceptable,” and called for the State Department to clarify its position on them. Egypt’s foreign ministry called his comments a “blatant violation” of international law, adding that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or other Arab lands.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/israel-ambassador-huckabee-middle-east-arab-muslim-e88a235c48bfb904f0ee7f8a72edf250

---

REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143619726

[Tetrachloride]

1. similar concerns reached my ears over a year ago

from South Asia

[trusty elf]

2. It's so reassuring knowing that drumpf named a hick fundie end-timer

as US ambassador to Israel.

[raccoon]

15. He should've married Noem. They'd be the couple from Hell.

[murielm99]

3. That fool is the ambassador?

Of course he is saying stupid things. What else do we expect?

[travelingthrulife]

10. I know. The fool who is hoping and praying for armageddon in the Middle East

so the baby Jesus will come back is the perfect choice for ambassador to Israel under the grips of a fascist NuttyYahoo.

[William Seger]

4. I thought that Jews, Christians, and Muslims were all descendants of Abraham

I looked it up to be sure: Arabs are descendants of Abraham via Ishmael, and Jews and Christians are descendants via Isaac. Anyway, Huckabee's "thinking" is the kind of nationalism (a.k.a. tribalism) that we don't need and shouldn't want in the modern world.

[Xolodno]

28. Technically, Jewish Christians are from Isaac.

Rest of the Christians are Gentile in origin. Irony, Muslims used to protect Jewish people from those blood thirsty Christians. As far as tribalism goes, you don't even know the half of it. Jews from the mid-east (including those that remained in the "Holy Lands" have often been looked down upon as second class by their European brethren. When you dig deeper into the three main branches, it becomes a mess.

[Behind the Aegis]

5. Providing fodder for Jew haters the world over! Woohoo!

He is ambASSador, why?

This is what happens when anti-Semites are given a platform to speak their "truth".

[rpannier]

6. Huckabee and Carlson

Can't get much worse

[IronLionZion]

7. Wag the dog

MAGA wants more distractions from Epstein files. As if the US buildup near Iran isn't enough.

[twodogsbarking]

8. It's religion folks. What do you expect, kindness?

[Trust_Reality]

18. It would seem that religions are the primary source of evil.

I wonder which inspires more wars, greed or religions. Probably religions.

[k0rs]

23. Not mutually exclusive

One of the main purposes of religion is to justify greed.

[Deminpenn]

9. Mega Trump bribers Saudi Arabia, et al vs Mike Huckabee

Which one will win?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

11. Sure was a good thing we didn't elect Genocide Joe or Killer Kamala

[electric_blue68]

20. Yeah. We made the "the right" choice...

Arrgggg!
Sighhhh...

[Linda ladeewolf]

12. This is just huckabee's way of starting Armageddon a little early. On his own schedule.

[pwb]

13. Abraham had two sons right?

So there's that.

[pandr32]

14. Wait a minute--Abraham was not Jewish.

Abrahamic religions include Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. I seem to think that whole Middle Eastern area already belongs to his descendants. I also am an Atheist and believe his story is mythical.

[JoseBalow]

19. Abraham was Jewish

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=who+was+the+first+jew

[electric_blue68]

16. WTF?!

[Kid Berwyn]

17. Huck's into Real Property.

Real estate. Stocks. Bonds. Cash. Really likes cash.

Mike Huckabee hauls in $9.4 million for Florida beach house

By Jack Flemming
Los Angeles Times, February 24, 2021

Politician Mike Huckabee has sold his Florida beach house — a cause of headaches and controversy during the time he owned it — for $9.4 million. Late last year, he announced he was moving back to Arkansas, where he served as governor from 1996 to 2007.

It was a speedy sale for Huckabee. He listed the home in Santa Rosa Beach for $9.5 million in late December and had an offer in hand about a week later, according to the Multiple Listing Service. Records show he paid $800,000 for the vacant property in 2009 and erected the mansion two years later.

The construction wasn’t cut and dried, however. In 2014, Reuters reported that Huckabee needed political help to push the permits through since state regulations wouldn’t allow the mansion to be built so close to the eroding beach’s sand dunes.

During his time in the home, Huckabee was also engaged in a battle to block public use of the beach. In an email published by the Tampa Bay Times, he argued that his land extended to the water line of the Gulf of Mexico and should therefore be off-limits to public beachgoers.

Continues…

https://www.latimes.com/business/real-estate/story/2021-02-24/mike-huckabee-hauls-in-9-4-million-for-florida-beach-house

[flashman13]

21. Let's cut to the chase. The U.S. and Israeli governments are in the hands of religious nuts.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Mblaze]

22. I'll agree with that

When Yahweh testifies live before the committee.

[AloeVera]

24. The Greater Israel Project is not a secret.

Huckabee just said the quiet part aloud.

The imminent attack on Iran is not about nuclear fears or "security". No one should buy that. Once Iran falls, Netanyahu is going to "remake the ME" just as he promised. Believe him.

[progree]

25. He did back down from "from the Nile to the Euphrates"

from the OP link AP story
https://apnews.com/article/israel-ambassador-huckabee-middle-east-arab-muslim-e88a235c48bfb904f0ee7f8a72edf250

. . . In the latest interview, Carlson pressed Huckabee about his interpretation of Bible verses from the 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.”

such a "diplomat"

[czarjak]

26. Those SBC Boys!

Wrong and damned Proud Boy of it too!

[LiberalArkie]

27. Descendants of the drunken man who had sex with his daughters?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

29. MaddowBlog-Huckabee's Israel comments spark controversy, adding to Trump's ambassadorial woes

In recent days, we’ve received multiple reminders: Donald Trump’s diplomats could stand to be more diplomatic.

Three U.S. ambassadors sparked three international incidents over the course of a week:
- Ambassador to Belgium Bill White
- Ambassador to France Charles Kushner
- Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee

But Huckabee’s controversy is clearly generating the biggest backlash.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-23T21:49:32.679Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/huckabees-israel-comments-spark-controversy-adding-to-trumps-ambassadorial-woes

But in between developments in Brussels and Paris, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee sparked an even more serious controversy. The New York Times reported:

Remarks by Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, prompted a storm of condemnation from Arab leaders over the weekend after he suggested that it ‘would be fine’ if Israel took lands stretching across the Middle East from Egypt to Iraq.

Mr. Huckabee, an evangelical Christian and a staunch supporter of Israel, made the comments during a two-hour interview with the provocative right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson, which aired on Friday.

To put it mildly, many in the region were not impressed. Politico reported that the backlash included public criticism from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry described Huckabee’s comment as “extremist rhetoric” and “unacceptable,” while Egypt’s foreign ministry called the remark a “blatant violation” of international law. The League of Arab States added, “Statements of this nature — extremist and lacking any sound basis — serve only to inflame sentiments and stir religious and national emotions.”

Over the weekend, Huckabee tried to walk back his comments, insisting that he was taken out of context. In the same interview, the ambassador, who previously served as governor of Arkansas, said Israel isn’t trying to “take all of that,” though he added, “They are asking to at least take the land that they now occupy, they now live in, they now own legitimately, and it is a safe haven for them.”