U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee Says Israel Is Entitled to Entire Middle East: ‘It Would Be Fine If They Took It All’

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Israel would be “fine” to take control of territory stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates during a tense exchange with Tucker Carlson as the host grilled him on his biblical “justification” for the country’s territory.

Speaking on The Tucker Carlson Show on Friday, Huckabee was pressed repeatedly on the biblical boundaries he cited as divinely promised to the Jewish people as the host asked him “what land” specifically he was talking about, noting the remit in the biblical book of Genesis is greater than the borders of modern-day Israel.

Such a border is alluded to in the expansionist idea of a “Greater Israel,” an ambition by some understood to encompass land across several modern states, including parts of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, as well as Palestinian territories.

Midway through the interview, as Huckabee accused Carlson of drawing the conversation away from Christian Zionism, the host said, “You have said it three times that God gave this land to this people and so it is entirely fair for me with respect to ask what land are you talking about because 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.”

He continued: “So God gave that land to his people, the Jews, or he didn’t. You’re saying he did. What does that mean? Does Israel have the right to that land? Because you’re appealing to Genesis.”

“You’re saying that’s the original deed?” he asked.

Huckabee paused before replying, “It would be fine if they took it all.”

He quickly added, “But I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about here today.”

Carlson pushed back, saying, “What would be fine? Well, that’s exactly what we’re talking about today. You think it would be fine if the state of Israel took over all of Jordan –”

“They don’t want to take it,” Huckabee interjected. “They’re not asking to take it over.”

Carlson doubled down to press harder, “But you’re saying that the reason that Israel is legitimate, has this inherent right to exist is, in part, because God gave it to his people. And I am going to the same Bible that you’re referring to and noticing that that is a huge piece of land. So if God gave them that land, then they have a right to take it now by your definition. Unless I’m missing something.”

“I think you’re missing something because they’re not asking to go back to 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,” Huckabee replied.

“Well, may I ask though, because you’re appealing, you’re explaining what Christian Zionism is and your theological beliefs and you think you just said it would be fine with you if the state of Israel took all of Syria, all of Lebanon,” Carlson said.

Huckabee clarified, “That’s really not exactly what I’m trying to say.”

“I’m asking, is that what you said? I thought that’s what you just said,” Carlson pushed.

“It was somewhat of a hyperbolic statement in that, you know, if that’s what you feel like that we’re talking about, but it isn’t. We’re talking about this land that Israel, the state of Israel, now lives in and wants to have peace in,” the envoy said.

He added, “They’re not trying to take over Jordan. They’re not trying to take over Syria. They’re not trying to take over Iraq or anywhere else, but they do want to protect their people.”

Carlson repeated that Huckabee had insisted that, as a Christian Zionist, he agreed with many communities in Israel that the “justification for this country is theological” and that he was simply pointing out that “that contract includes a tract of land that is much larger than the current nation state.”

“You may be even a bigger Zionist than the Jews that live in Israel,” Huckabee jibed.

“I’m trying to understand the implications of your theology for geopolitics because you’re saying that the present government of Israel has a moral right to take over what are now other people’s countries,” the host followed.

“No, I didn’t say that, Tuck,” Huckabee replied.

“Then what are you saying?” Carlson asked.

The envoy returned, “I’m simply saying that the people who live in Israel, I think, have a right to have security, have safety. They have a right to be able to live in this land that they have a connection to for 3800 years.”

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