Several Arab countries condemned the remarks made 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.
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”.
The Foreign Ministry of Saudi Arabia said in a post on
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 [Israel] annexing the West Bank”.
What did Mike Huckabee say?
In a podcast episode released Friday, far-right commentator and Israel critic Tucker 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.”
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, the Associated Press reported.
He 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, AFP reported.
In response, Huckabee said, “It would be fine if they took it all.” He added, however, that Israel was not looking to expand its territory and has a right to security in the land it legitimately holds.
“It was somewhat of a hyperbolic statement,” he said.
His comments sparked back immediatelash from neighboring Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States.
Huckabee issues clarification
On Saturday, Huckabee published two posts on
There was no immediate comment from Israel or the United States.
Huckabee, an evangelical Christian and strong 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 does not believe in referring to the Arab descendants of people who had lived in British-controlled Palestine as “Palestinians.”
(With inputs from AP, Reuters, AFP)
