Tucker Carlson’s debate with Mike Huckabee on Israel’s right to Mideast land stirs outrage

US President Donald Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on December 29, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump's ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has upset Arab countries in the Middle East with podcast comments. Photo / Getty Images

Arab leaders have resoundingly rejected comments made by United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee during a podcast released yesterday in which he sparred with right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson over their views on Israel and Huckabee suggested the Bible gives the Jewish state the right to much of the Middle East.

Carlson and Huckabee spoke during a two-hour episode of The Tucker Carlson Show as some in the Republican Party try to tone down disputes over Israel.

Carlson has faced scrutiny from some across the political spectrum who have said his criticism of Israel is fanning anti-Semitism.

The two former Fox News hosts debated what the Bible says about Jews and Israel, and how that should be understood today.

Carlson noted that the Book of Genesis, the first portion of the Hebrew and Christian bibles, details how God formed a covenant with Abraham, and that the land “from the river of Egypt until the great river, the Euphrates” would belong to Abraham’s descendants. Abraham is considered the father of the Jewish people.

After Huckabee said God gave that land to the Jews, Carlson pressed him to specify “what land are you talking about?”

Some experts interpret the “river of Egypt” to be a riverbed in Sinai, while others understand it to be the Nile. The area could include parts of modern-day Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Turkey.

Huckabee responded that “it would be fine if they took it all,” referring to Israel.

“But I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about here today … They don’t want to take it over, they’re not asking to take it over.”

Today, Arab leaders forcefully condemned Huckabee’s comments as a violation of diplomatic norms.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Fuad al-Majali, said the “absurd and provocative statements” constitute “an assault on the sovereignty of the countries of the region, and a flagrant breach of international law”.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said they were a “blatant violation” of diplomatic norms that contradict US President Donald Trump’s vision for ending the war in Gaza. It reaffirmed “that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or any other Arab lands”.

The secretary-general of the Arab League, a regional organisation of 22 states, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said the comments contradict long-standing US policies, while Palestinian officials called on the US Administration to take a “clear and explicit stance” following Huckabee’s claims.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist minister and US presidential candidate. Photo / Getty Images

Saudi Arabia described his words as “reckless” and “irresponsible”, while Kuwait decried what it called a “flagrant violation of the principles of international law”, and Oman said the comments “threatened the prospects for peace” and stability in the region.

The White House and State Department did not respond to requests for comment.

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”.

Splits on the right

Splits have erupted among conservatives - especially evangelicals - between those who support the Israeli state and those who are sharply critical.

Carlson, one of the Make America Great Again movement’s most influential leaders, has focused on Israeli and Jewish interest of late, saying the US Government isn’t independent enough from the Jewish state.

Carlson recently hosted a friendly interview with white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who told Carlson the major roadblock to American unity is “organised Jewry”.

Carlson also hosted amateur historian Darryl Cooper, who implied on the show that Jews’ deaths in the Holocaust were a result of poor Nazi planning, not genocidal intent, and conservative commentator Candace Owens, who said Israel is a “demonic nation”. They all frame their comments on Israel as part of an “America First” agenda that they say has been unfairly framed as anti-Semitic.

Huckabee has on multiple occasions angered senior Trump Administration officials by going further in his pro-Israel advocacy than they are comfortable with, according to two Administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal disagreements.

A particularly heated flashpoint occurred last year when Huckabee met Jonathan Pollard, an American imprisoned for 30 years for spying for Israel and betraying the US. Pollard was hosted by Huckabee at the US Embassy - treatment some US officials viewed as unbecoming of a diplomat representing the US, the officials said.

Huckabee has also signalled openness to Israel applying sovereignty in the West Bank, an area widely recognised by the international community as occupied Palestinian territory, in a way that has made White House and State Department officials uncomfortable, the officials said.

Evangelicals visit Israel

Some US evangelical and Israeli leaders have expressed urgent worry recently about what some view as the fraying of the decades-long bond between the Jewish state and American evangelicals.

More than 1000 evangelical religious leaders went to Israel last month on an unprecedented visit to meet top officials, talk with Israeli hostages and renew support for Israel.

One of the organisers said Carlson’s recent focus on Jews and Israel was a key driver of the effort. They want to stem the growing disaffection among younger religious conservatives who increasingly see Israel as a malign force with outsize influence on US politics and culture.

“The number one issue [on the trip] was the youth in America and what’s transpiring with this ideological war,” Christian Zionist leader and trip organiser Mike Evans told the Washington Post last month.

Carlson is a major influencer among conservative evangelicals and Catholics.

The Huckabee-Carlson show was organised in part by former Fox host Melissa Francis. She told the Times of Israel that she invited Carlson to visit Israel.

“He responded that US President Donald Trump has asked him to rein in the fight within the Republican Party over Israel, out of a concern that it was helping the Democratic Party,” the paper reported.

In a video interview this week with the Jerusalem Post, Francis said: “What’s important about what’s going on is that President Trump knows better than anyone that the enemy wins when those on the side of God are divided,” she said.

“We’re not going to convince anyone of anything but this is an attempt to really turn down the temperature.”

- additional reporting AFP

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