US Ambassador to Israel: It would be normal if Israel controlled lands from the Nile to the Euphrates

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. Photo: AP Photo / Julia Demaree Nikhinson

During the conversation, the interlocutors touched upon the slogan "from the river to the sea" — which refers to the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, where Israel and the Palestinian territories are located today. Discussing this slogan, Carlson mentioned the biblical theme of the "promised land" described in the Book of Genesis. (Huckabee, before becoming a politician and ambassador, was a Baptist preacher.) Here is a fragment of that conversation.

Tucker Carlson: You refer to the Book of Genesis. Chapter 15 talks about Abram (this is before he became Abraham). Abram receives a message from God that his descendants will inherit this land. And correct me as a theologian if I'm wrong. But it says: from the Euphrates to the Nile. It seems so. That would essentially include the entire Middle East. That would be the Levant — Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon. Also large parts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Huckabee: I'm not sure it goes that far.

Carlson: So that would be a large territory where other countries are located.

Huckabee: But this specific region we're talking about now. Israel is the land that God gave through Abraham to the people he chose. It was a people, a place, and a purpose. You can look at it that way. […]

Carlson: You said three times that God gave this land to these people. And so it's perfectly fair for me to respectfully ask: what land are you talking about? Because I just reread Genesis Chapter 15. And there, as I understand it, it says — from the Nile to the Euphrates. Which, again, is virtually the entire Middle East. So, God either gave this land to his people, the Jews, or he didn't. You say he did. What does that mean? Does Israel have a right to this land? Because you are citing the Book of Genesis. You say this is the original deed.

Huckabee: It would be normal if they took it all. But I don't think that's what we're talking about today. […]

Carlson: Are you saying that the current government of Israel has a moral right to seize what are now other people's countries?

Huckabee: No, I didn't say that.

Carlson: Then what are you saying?

Huckabee: I'm just saying that the people who live in Israel have a right to security, to protection. They have a right to live on this land with which they are connected.

As Politico writes, the statements by the US Ambassador to Israel caused an immediate reaction from neighboring Egypt and Jordan, as well as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the League of Arab States.

The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Huckabee's statements "extremist rhetoric" and "unacceptable" and called on the State Department to clarify its position on them.

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that these remarks are a "clear violation" of international law, emphasizing that "Israel has no sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territory or other Arab lands."

The League of Arab States, in turn, noted that "statements of this nature — extremist and unfounded — only serve to inflame sentiments and incite religious and national feelings."

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