Arab countries condemn Mike Huckabee's words about Israel's biblical borders

Arab and Muslim countries on Saturday condemned the statement of US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who stated that Israel historically has the right to occupy most of the territories of the Middle East.

In an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that aired Friday, Ambassador Huckabee stated that under biblical interpretation, Israel could claim territory covering much of the Middle East and “there would be nothing wrong with taking it all.”

Carlson asked whether Israel has a right to the land that, according to the Book of Genesis, God promises to Abraham's descendants: from the Nile to the Euphrates. This is an area including, among others: present-day Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and parts of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

As Reuters writes, the statement of the US ambassador to Israel sparked immediate official opposition from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States.

The Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry described the US diplomat's comments as unacceptable “extremist rhetoric” and called on the US State Department to clarify its position on the matter. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry called Huckabee's comments a “gross violation” of international law, stressing that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or other Arab lands.”

“Statements of this kind – extremist and devoid of any solid basis – serve only to inflame feelings and arouse religious and national emotions,” the Arab League said.

Israeli law does not clearly define the borders of the state. The internationally recognized borders of this country are based on the armistice lines of 1949 (the so-called Green Line) and subsequent peace agreements with Israel – including: with Egypt in 1979 and with Jordan in 1994.

The status of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights – which came under Israeli control as a result of the Six-Day War in 1967 – is the subject of international disputes. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in 2024 that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories was incompatible with international law.

Some Israeli politicians publicly refer to the idea of ​​”Greater Israel” present in religious and nationalist circles, which assumes the expansion of the state's borders even beyond the territories acquired in 1967. (PAP)

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