Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and others denounce US ambassador’s remarks suggesting Israel has right to much of the Middle East.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee [File: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/AFP]
By Al Jazeera Staff
Published On 21 Feb 2026
United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has triggered an avalanche of criticism from Arab and Muslim countries after suggesting Israel has a right to expand its territory across a large swath of the Middle East.
Huckabee delivered the remarks during a sit-down interview with US commentator Tucker Carlson, broadcast on Friday, as he was pressed about the geographical borders of Israel.
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Carlson asked Huckabee, a self-professed Christian Zionist and staunch supporter of Israel, to clarify his stance on the Biblical promise of the land spanning the area between the Euphrates River in Iraq and the Nile River in Egypt to the descendants of Abraham, and if the modern Israeli state had the right to claim that lineage.
“It would be fine if they took it all,” said Huckabee.
Such territory would encompass modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and parts of Saudi Arabia.
The US ambassador later appeared to walk back the claim, saying it was “somewhat of a hyperbolic statement”. He also said Israel was not looking to expand its territory and has a right to security in the land it currently holds.
‘Extremist rhetoric’
Huckabee’s comments sparked immediate backlash from neighbouring Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States, which in separate statements called them “extremist”, “provocative” and “not in line with Washington’s official position”.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry described Huckabee’s comments as “extremist rhetoric” and “unacceptable”, and called for the US Department of State to provide clarification.
Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the remarks a “blatant violation” of international law, adding that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or other Arab lands.”
Jordan’s foreign ministry dismissed them as “absurd and provocative,” a violation of diplomatic norms and “an infringement on the sovereignty of states in the region”.
“Statements of this nature — extremist and lacking any sound basis — serve only to inflame sentiments and stir religious and national emotions”, the League of Arab States also said in a statement.
Huckabee, whom US President Donald Trump nominated as ambassador in 2024, has long opposed the idea of a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian people, and denied the existence of an illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Back in 2008, Huckabee went so far as to question Palestinian identity altogether, saying, “There’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.”
What does Trump’s foreign policy team mean for the Middle East?
In 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal and must cease immediately.
But Israeli law does not clearly demarcate the country’s borders. Israel also occupies the Golan Heights in Syria, which it illegally annexed in 1981.
The US is the only country that recognises Israel’s claimed sovereignty over the Syrian territory, and only since 2019, during Trump’s first term as president.
After its 2024 war with Hezbollah, Israel also set up military outposts in five points inside Lebanon.
Some Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have openly promoted the idea of a “Greater Israel” with expanded borders.
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Just an idiotic blind Christian-Zionist devotee of the Baal society
Bibi, thou and thy people have devotedly offered me 28 Palestinian children each day, making it a total of 27,000 children I Thy Almighty have devoured thus far.
BUT
I want more ... More ... MORE
YES, ALMIGHTY ONE, GLADLY!
Glory to Zion.
ReplyDeleteKeep that in yr mfering wet dream
DeleteDid the Ishmaels have any rights conquering, colonizing in North Africa, ME, Central and South Asia when they expanded from the 7th century onwards? They even reached Spain and Austria before they were stopped.
ReplyDeleteOnly Isaac managed to resist. That is why Ishmael cannot tahan.
Ooo… ya!
DeleteYr kind of mfering his-story
Hopefully KT won't find this offensive and tapis....the truth sometimes hurts....but it's Still The Truth....
ReplyDeleteLife Magazine Front Cover in 1976.....
Palestinian Arab children, some in bare feet, armed with assault rifles in 1976 became the Hamas commanders of 2025 after lives as terrorists. Innocent children? Not in the hands of “Palestinian” culture. They are a death cult which has zero concept of peaceful coexistence.
Go On....Let's Give Them A State....
https://x.com/Zimmlaw175/status/2025648310787436563?s=20
forced by oppression
DeleteBut Will The UN Listen.....?
ReplyDeleteBREAKING: Party of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz unanimously calls for end to funding of UNRWA. Motion by CDU 2026 congress: “Germany and the EU shall discontinue support for UNRWA... Investigations have confirmed close entanglement between UNRWA and terrorist organizations.”
https://x.com/HillelNeuer/status/2025310911360012424?s=20
Wakakakaka… polishing up ur german, & read the fact sheet yrself, mfer
DeleteULANGKAJI....
ReplyDelete56 years ago, Jews blew up Swissair Flight 330, k*lling 47, as is their custom.
Do you love going through airport security?
Make sure to thank a Jew....
https://x.com/MaxNordau/status/2025623202668413140?s=20
Ha2 Gotcha...
ReplyDeleteIf you bothered to click the link above you would have realized "Jew" is really "Palastin Arabs".
so?
DeleteThis is happening in Gaza now, but Al Jezebel will never report....
ReplyDeleteHarmass still refuse to lay down arms......where got ceasefire?
HORRIFIC: A group of Hamas notorious group "Sahem" unit stormed a displacement camp in Khan Younis beating and smashing residents shops and tents because they refused to pay "taxes".
If the new technocratic committee is serious about restoring order and rebuilding Gaza, its first priority must be clear: hold these criminals accountable.
https://x.com/HowidyHamza/status/2025512862546845912?s=20
yr mfering story, regurgitates endless time, mfer
DeleteI think KT must have attended this...ha3...
ReplyDeleteTony Burke spent Friday night at Lakemba, where streets were closed, Jews were excluded, and open-air prayers of intimidation were on full display.
https://x.com/Ausbobsmit/status/2025339307939246586?s=20
so?
DeleteLakemba sounds like Minneapolis...
ReplyDeleteI lived there for 5 years.
It’s an Islamic stronghold
ripe with fraud,
crime,
extortion,
drugs,
Social Security rorts,
local government corruption,
medical rorts,
hospital corruption.
Tip of the iceberg in Australia.
No government is going after them.
https://x.com/XrossSaint/status/2025344322946879568?s=20
They are praying On Stolen or Conquered Land....as Usual.....
ReplyDeleteDear "I Am Not Dying for Israel" Keyboard Warriors,
ReplyDeleteThis is the Russian MiG 21 Fighter Jet.
It was the pinnacle of Soviet warfare.
The Pentagon was spending MILLIONS of US tax dollars speculating what it is like, how to outmaneuver it, and speculating how to outperform the Soviets. Many of the high costs came from the Russians' ability to keep the makeup of this airplane top secret.
In 1966, Israeli Mossad agents orchestrated the defection of Iraqi pilot Munir Redfa, who flew this Soviet-built MiG-21 to Israel in Operation Diamond.
Israel passed on all the information to the US and even loaned this airplane to the US.
Israel is the only US ally that never asked a single US soldier to fight for it. Israel defends itself, by itself and does a great deal for our security.
https://x.com/RabbiPoupko/status/2025409154794361068?s=20
yaloh, better still DON'T ask for any military HW supplies to restock these meeting idf.
DeleteOoop… get trump to stop the provision of billions $ of fund pouring into the zionist state.
Then let see how the zionist state going to defend itself, by itself and does a great deal for its security.