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Arab and Muslim states have reacted with outrage after the US ambassador to Israel told an interviewer that it “would be fine” if Israel took over a huge swath of the Middle East.
Mike Huckabee, a devout evangelical Christian, made the comments in an interview with the rightwing American commentator Tucker Carlson, who asked about a biblical verse that described God promising Abraham’s descendants the land between “the Wadi of Egypt” and the Euphrates.
Pressed on whether Israel had a right to this land, which covers much of the modern-day Middle East, including parts of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Huckabee said “it would be fine if they took it all”.
The ambassador subsequently backtracked, describing his own statement as “somewhat . . . hyperbolic”, and added that Israel was “not trying to take over” the rest of the land referred to in the biblical verse.
However, his statement — which came at a time of heightened tension in the Middle East and mounting fears of a war between the US, Israel and Iran — sparked angry reactions from across the region.
The Arab League, which represents 22 Arab states, condemned Huckabee’s remarks on Saturday as “extremist and lacking any sound basis”.
It added that his comments would “inflame sentiments” and “stir religious and national emotions” at a time when the US was trying to work with countries in the region to broker a lasting peace in the wake of the two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which represents 57 mainly Muslim-majority states, also criticised Huckabee’s comments. It branded them “an unacceptable call for the expansion of Israel, the occupying power, and its seizure of more Palestinian and Arab lands based on a false and rejected historical and ideological narrative”.
It is not the first time that Huckabee has voiced support for positions that diverge sharply from traditional US foreign policy in the Middle East.
Washington has long backed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the establishment of a Palestinian state. President Donald Trump has also said he would oppose an attempt by Israel to annex the West Bank, which Palestinians seek as the heart of a future state, but which Israel has occupied for almost 60 years.
Huckabee, by contrast, has poured cold water on the idea of a two-state solution, and even dismissed the idea of a Palestinian identity.
The ordained Southern Baptist minister also refers to the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria” — the biblical name favoured by Jewish settlers — and refuses to describe Israel’s presence in the territory as an occupation.
The US state department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Huckabee’s remarks.