USA US ambassador enrages Arab world with Israel thesis
Arab and Muslim states have reacted indignantly to statements by the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, according to which the Jewish state has a biblical right to large parts of the Middle East. In an interview, the 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 the Middle East today. Huckabee replied: "It would be fine if they took it all." Shortly afterwards, he rowed back and said Carlson's question was irrelevant, as Israel had no such intentions. Israel has the right to live in the land it currently owns, he said.
22.02.2026, 09:41
22.02.2026, 09:42
SDA
In a joint statement published by the Saudi Foreign Ministry on Platform X, the foreign ministries of several Arab and Muslim states, together with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council, condemned the US ambassador's remarks "in the strongest terms". They expressed their "deep concern" about this. Huckabee's "dangerous and inflammatory statements" were a "blatant violation" of the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter.
Criticism of Israel's actions in the West Bank
The declaration was joined by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.
Israel has not had fully recognized borders since the founding of the state in 1948. In the 1967 Six-Day War, it conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among other territories. Today, around 700,000 Israeli settlers live there among three million Palestinians. The Palestinians claim the territories for their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
According to the media, Israel's government recently approved a proposal to make it easier for Israeli settlers to acquire land in the West Bank. Germany and other states criticized this.
