Arab and Muslim countries have reacted with outrage to statements by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee that the Jewish state has a biblical right to large parts of the Middle East.
02/22/2026, 08:2702/22/2026, 08:27
In an interview, right-wing online commentator Tucker Carlson asked him whether, according to a literal interpretation of the Bible, Israel had the right to claim large parts of what is now the Middle East. Huckabee replied:
“It would be fine if they took everything.”
Shortly thereafter, he backpedaled, saying Carlson’s question was irrelevant because Israel had no such intentions. Israel has the right to live in the land it currently owns, he said.
Mike Huckabee causes outrage in the Arab world.Image: keystone
In a joint statement published by the Saudi Foreign Ministry on Platform They expressed their “deep concern” about this. Huckabee’s “dangerous and inflammatory statements” constituted a “flagrant violation” of the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
Criticism of Israel’s actions in the West Bank
In addition to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine also joined the statement.
Israel has not had fully recognized borders since its founding in 1948. In the Six-Day War of 1967, it conquered, among other things, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Today, around 700,000 Israeli settlers live there among three million Palestinians. The Palestinians claim the areas for their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
According to the media, Israel’s government recently approved a proposal that would make it easier for Israeli settlers to purchase land in the West Bank. Various European countries criticized this. (sda/dpa)