US says ambassador’s comments on Israel and the Middle East were taken out of context

TEL AVIV, Israel — An uproar continued Sunday after the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said Israel has a right to much of the Middle East, as more Arab and Muslim countries objected and the U.S. said his comments were taken out of context.

Huckabee spoke in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that aired Friday. Carlson said that according to the Bible, the descendants of Abraham would receive land that today would include much of the Middle East, including parts of modern-day Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. He quoted from Genesis Chapter 15 and asked Huckabee if Israel had a right to that land.

Huckabee responded: “It would be fine if they took it all.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy said Sunday that Huckabee’s comments were taken out of context and that there is no change to U.S. policies on Israel.

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In the interview, Huckabee added: “They’re not asking to go back and take all of that, 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.” He added that Israel isn’t trying to take over Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, or Iraq but is trying to protect its own people.

Condemnation by Arab countries

A joint statement Sunday by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Syria, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, the Palestinian Authority and several Arab governing bodies called Huckabee’s remarks “dangerous and inflammatory” and ones that endanger the region’s stability.

“These statements directly contradict the vision put forward by U.S. President Donald J. Trump … based on containing escalation and creating a political horizon for a comprehensive settlement that ensures the Palestinian people have their own independent state,” the statement said.

Huckabee, an evangelical Christian and strong supporter of Israel and the West Bank settlement movement, has long opposed the idea of a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian people.

Carlson has been critical of U.S. support for Israel in the war in Gaza and has come under fire for his own far-right views, including the white-supremacist theory that says whites are being “replaced” by people of color.

Israeli concerns about Iran

Meanwhile, tensions are high in Israel as the country prepares for a possible attack from Iran. Iran previously said it will attack both Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East if the United States attacks it.

Trump warned on Friday that limited strikes against Iran are possible, even as the country’s top diplomat said Tehran expects to have a proposed deal ready in the next few days following nuclear talks with the United States.

The movements of additional U.S. warships and airplanes to the region, with the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, don’t guarantee a U.S. strike on Iran, but they bolster Trump’s ability to carry out one if he chooses.

Netanyahu warned last week that if Iran attacks Israel, they will risk a “response that they cannot even imagine.”

Israel attacked Iran last year during indirect U.S.-Iran talks, sparking a 12-day war. The United States inserted itself in the war by bombing Iranian nuclear sites.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Sam Mednick contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel.