Arab and Muslim nations on Saturday sharply condemned comments by the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who said in a recent interview that “it would be fine” if Israel took over a large swath of the Middle East.

Huckabee made the comments during his contentious interview with right-wing American commentator Tucker Carlson which aired Friday, after Carlson said that according to the Bible, the descendants of Abraham would receive land that today would include large parts of the Middle East, and asked Huckabee if Israel had a right to that land.

Huckabee responded: “It would be fine if they took it all.” However, he said that Israel was not looking to expand its territory and has a right to security in the land it legitimately holds.

His comments sparked immediate backlash from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States, which in separate statements called them extremist, provocative, and not in line with the US position.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry described Huckabee’s comments as “extremist rhetoric” and “unacceptable,” and called for the State Department to clarify its position on them.

Egypt’s foreign ministry called his comments a “blatant violation” of international law, adding that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or other Arab lands.”

“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 said.

The Palestinian Authority said on X that Huckabee’s words “contradict US President Donald Trump’s rejection of [Israel] annexing the West Bank.”

In its statement, the Arab League condemned Huckabee’s “extreme” comment, in which he “asserted Israel’s right to control the Middle East, citing religious texts from the Old Testament.”

The comments “violated all the basic principles and established norms of diplomacy, as well as defying logic and reason,” the group of 22 Arab nations said, adding that the US envoy’s words “contradict US policies and positions across the board, aimed at currying favor with the right-wing public in Israel.”

“Such extremist and baseless statements inflame religious and nationalistic sentiments at a time when Arab states are meeting under the auspices of the Board of Peace to discuss ways to implement the Gaza peace agreement and seize this opportunity to launch a serious peace process,” it added.

#أبو_الغيط يدين تصريحات متطرفة للسفير الأمريكي لدى اسرائيل pic.twitter.com/C4e0AbfVoM — الأمين العام لجامعة الدول العربية (@lassecgen) February 21, 2026

#أبو_الغيط يدين تصريحات متطرفة للسفير الأمريكي لدى اسرائيل pic.twitter.com/C4e0AbfVoM

— الأمين العام لجامعة الدول العربية (@lassecgen) February 21, 2026

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which is made up of 57 mostly Muslim-majority nations, including the entire Arab League, issued a similar statement, saying it “condemns the dangerous and irresponsible” comments made by Huckabee.

The OIC said the US envoy’s comments were “an unacceptable call for the expansion of Israel” that were “based on a false and rejected historical and ideological narrative.”

Such remarks “fuel extremist ideological rhetoric, which would fuel extremism and encourage” Israel to “continue its illegal measures based on displacement, settlement, and attempts to impose annexation” on Palestinian territory, the group said.

There was no immediate response from Israel or the United States.

Huckabee, a devout Christian and outspoken Zionist, commented being pressed by Carlson on his assertion that a part of the Jewish people’s right to the land stemmed from God’s promise to Abraham, while noting that that promised land spanned a far larger territory than that of today’s Israel, encompassing much of present-day’s Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. He asked whether it did not follow then that Israel had a right to take land from neighboring Arab countries.

After initially avoiding the matter, Huckabee eventually said, “It would be fine if they took it all,” while swiftly adding that this was not on the table as “They’re not asking to take it over.”

Carlson then asked the US ambassador to confirm he was fine with Israel taking over “all of Syria, all of Lebanon.” Huckabee responded, “That’s really not exactly what I’m trying to say,” adding that “It was somewhat of a hyperbolic statement.”

In a subsequent back-and-forth, Carlson demanded to know whether Huckabee believes Israel “has a moral right to take over what are now other people’s countries,” as the envoy insisted he had not said that. Eventually, Huckabee said: “If they end up getting attacked by all these places and they win that war and they take that land, then, okay, that’s a whole other discussion.”

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