The United States ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has suggested that Israel has the right to control the Middle East, amid ongoing debate over its occupation of Palestinian territories.
Speaking on Tucker Carlson’s podcast, Mike Huckabee stated that the geographical borders of Israel are rooted in the Bible.
According to his interpretation, Israel, as described in the Bible, extends from the Euphrates River in Iraq to the Nile River in Egypt, encompassing modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and parts of Saudi Arabia.
“It would be fine if they took it all,” he suggested.
Mike Huckabee, however, added that there is no intention to expand their original possession of the occupied land.
Defense of Israel and Criticism of International Law
He criticized international legal institutions, arguing that the right to exist is grounded in law while attacking the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) for allegedly applying rules inconsistently.
“One of the reasons I’m so grateful President Trump and Secretary Rubio are pushing hard… is because they have become rogue organisations that are no longer really about an equal application of law,” he said.
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Huckabee also noted that the right to exist is supported by legal principles, despite international opposition.
His remarks come amid ongoing tensions over the occupation of Palestinian territories, the annexation of the Golan Heights, the West Bank territories, and military outposts established in Lebanon following the 2024 conflict with Hezbollah.
Some politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have promoted the idea of a “Greater Israel”, highlighting territory that includes parts of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories.
UN States Condemn Israel’s Occupation of Palestine’s Territories
More than 80 United Nations member states have previously condemned the plan to expand control over the occupied West Bank and claim large tracts of Palestinian territory as Israeli state property, arguing that the measures are contrary to international law.
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Under the new measures, settlers will be allowed to buy land directly from Palestinians, and authority for construction in the flashpoint city of Hebron will be transferred from the Palestinian Authority to Israel.
Additionally, the country will control over two major religious sites in the southern West Bank, which will be reinforced: Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, however, described the Israeli measures as “fundamentally racist” and emanating from a “colonial narrative”.
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