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Arab and Muslim governments denounce US ambassador's remarks
A coalition of Arab and Muslim nations has sharply criticized US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee after he suggested Israel would be justified in expanding its control across much of the Middle East on religious grounds. The comments, made in a recent interview, drew immediate backlash from over a dozen governments, who labeled them "dangerous and inflammatory."
Huckabee's controversial statements
In an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, released Friday, Huckabee was asked whether Israel had a Biblical right to territory described as spanning from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River in Syria and Iraq. The ambassador responded that while such an expansion would be "a big piece of land," he believed Israel would be justified in taking "it all."
He later clarified that his remark was "somewhat hyperbolic," emphasizing that Israel's current focus was on securing the land it already occupies. "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," Huckabee said.
Joint condemnation from regional powers
A statement issued by the United Arab Emirates on behalf of 14 governments, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, as well as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League, condemned Huckabee's comments as a violation of international law. The statement warned that the remarks undermined US-backed efforts to end the Gaza war and establish a Palestinian state.
"The ministries reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty whatsoever over the Occupied Palestinian Territory or any other occupied Arab lands."
Joint statement by Arab and Muslim governments
The signatories also rejected any attempts to annex the West Bank, expand Israeli settlements, or threaten the sovereignty of Arab states. They stressed that such actions contradicted the US administration's stated goal of achieving a two-state solution.
Historical context and US policy
Huckabee's remarks align with his long-standing support for Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank, a position at odds with decades of US foreign policy. Israel has built approximately 160 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since capturing the territories in the 1967 Middle East war. These settlements, home to around 700,000 Jewish residents, are widely considered illegal under international law.
In 2024, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion reinforcing this stance, though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the ruling as "a decision of lies." He maintained that "the Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land."
Escalation amid Gaza war
Settlement expansion has accelerated since Netanyahu's return to power in late 2022, particularly following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. The conflict was triggered by a deadly attack by Hamas on Israel, which has since resulted in the deaths of over 72,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.
The ongoing violence has further complicated diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with regional leaders warning that inflammatory rhetoric risks derailing fragile peace initiatives.
