Arab and Muslim countries strongly condemned remarks made by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee after he suggested that Israel had a right to large parts of the Middle East, triggering widespread diplomatic backlash across the region.
The controversy began after Huckabee appeared in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, aired on Friday. During the discussion, Carlson referred to biblical interpretations suggesting that the descendants of Abraham were promised land spanning much of today’s Middle East and asked whether Israel had a rightful claim to such territory. Huckabee responded that it “would be fine if they took it all,” though he added that Israel was not seeking territorial expansion and was primarily focused on maintaining security within the land it legitimately controls.
The remarks prompted immediate criticism from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States. In separate statements, these governments and organisations described the comments as provocative, extremist and inconsistent with official United States policy.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry labelled the statement “extremist rhetoric” and “unacceptable,” urging the US State Department to clarify its official stance. Egypt condemned the remarks as a clear violation of international law, asserting that Israel holds no sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territories or other Arab lands. The League of Arab States warned that such statements could inflame regional tensions by stirring religious and nationalist sentiments.
Neither the US government nor Israeli authorities issued an immediate response following the backlash.
The dispute unfolds against the backdrop of longstanding territorial tensions in the Middle East. Since Israel’s establishment in 1948, its borders have evolved through wars, ceasefires and diplomatic agreements. During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Israel later returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt under a peace agreement and withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
In recent years, Israel has expanded settlement construction and administrative control in the occupied West Bank, while Palestinians continue to seek an independent state comprising the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital, a position supported by much of the international community.
Huckabee has long opposed the two-state solution framework and has previously questioned the use of the term “Palestinian” to describe Arab descendants of people who lived in British-controlled Palestine. His latest comments, rooted partly in religious interpretations referenced during the interview, have intensified already sensitive debates surrounding sovereignty, historical claims and the future political structure of the region.
