Extract from ABC News
Mike Huckabee says he believes Israel was given to the Jewish people by God. (Reuters: Ronen Zvulun)
In short:
Arab and Muslim nations have strongly condemned comments made by the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
Mr Huckabee suggested Israel could claim a biblical right to territory beyond its borders in the Middle East.
The foreign ministries of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine labelled the comments "dangerous and inflammatory".
Arab and Muslim nations have expressed "strong condemnation and profound concern" over comments from the United States ambassador to Israel, suggesting Israel could claim a biblical right to territory far beyond its borders in the Middle East.
Ambassador Mike Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, was being interviewed by right-wing American commentator Tucker Carlson, who he had invited to Israel after the former Fox News host criticised the country's treatment of Christians in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
Carlson questioned the ambassador about his interpretation of Genesis chapter 15, verse 18 in the Old Testament.
"Abram, it's pre-Abraham, it's Abram, receives from God the news that his descendants will inherit the land — and you tell me as the theologian if I'm getting this wrong — but from the Euphrates to the Nile, I think that's right," Carlson said.
"And that would include basically the entire Middle East — that would be the Levant, so that would be Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon. It would also be big parts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq."
Mr Huckabee said he was not sure it would "go that far" and that "it would be a big piece of land".
"This particular area that we're talking about now, Israel is a land that God gave through Abraham to a people that he chose," the ambassador said.
"It was a people, a place, and a purpose — we can look at it that way."
Carlson pressed him, asking him to be specific about what land he was talking about.
"I just read Genesis 15, as I have many times, and that land, I think it says from the Nile to the Euphrates, which is once again basically the entire Middle East," the commentator said.
"So God gave that land to his people, the Jews, or he didn't — you're saying he did. What does that mean?
Mike Huckabee visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem last year. (Reuters: Ronen Zvulun)
"Does Israel have the right to that land? Because you're appealing to Genesis. You're saying that's the original deed."
Mr Huckabee replied that it "would be fine if they took it all", before adding that Israel did not want to take it over, suggesting it was a "hyperbolic statement".
"I think you're missing something because they're not asking to go back to take all of that," the ambassador said.
"But they are asking to at least take the land that they now occupy, they now live in, they now own legitimately, and it is a safe haven for them."
Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza is considered illegal under international law.
Rhetoric labelled inflammatory
In a joint statement, the foreign ministries of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine labelled Mr Huckabee's rhetoric as "dangerous and inflammatory".
"The ministries reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty whatsoever over the Occupied Palestinian Territory or any other occupied Arab lands," the countries said.
"They reiterated their firm rejection of any attempts to annex the West Bank or separate it from the Gaza Strip, their strong opposition to the expansion of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and their categorical rejection of any threat to the sovereignty of Arab states.
"They further warned that the continuation of Israel's expansionist policies and unlawful measures will only inflame violence and conflict in the region and undermine the prospects for peace and called for an end to these incendiary statements."
Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has advocated for the total annexation of Palestinian territory and the removal of Palestinians from the land, issued a rare English post on social media in response to the interview.
He said he loved Mr Huckabee, and added Israeli and US flag emojis.
Tucker Carlson has been critical of Israel. (Reuters: Elijah Nouvelage)
Carlson has been a vocal critic of Israel in recent times, labelling it "probably the most violent country on Earth" in a monologue featured in the same episode as the Huckabee interview.
He also lashed out at Israeli authorities for what he described as hostile questioning of his staff when they arrived at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport — claims the nation's airport authority denied.
This month, a survey of more than 40,000 people from across the Arab world was released by the Arab Center Washington DC, a US-based think tank.
Twenty-eight per cent of those surveyed said Israel presented the greatest threat to the security of the region, while 10 per cent said it was the United States.
Eight per cent cited Iran as the greatest threat.
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