Arab states slam Huckabee remarks on Israel's divine right to all Middle East
Several Arab countries on Saturday condemned comments made by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who said it would be "fine" if Israel took over the entire Middle East.
Statements slamming the remarks have come out from Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman as well as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League.
The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the statements by Huckabee as "irresponsible, escalatory and absurd".
"The official spokesperson for the ministry, Ambassador Fuad Al-Majali, rejected these absurd and provocative statements, which constitute a violation of diplomatic norms, an assault on the sovereignty of the countries of the region, and a flagrant breach of international law and the Charter of the United Nations," it said.
It noted that Huckabee's remarks, made during an interview on The Tucker Carlson Show on Friday, contradict the position of US President Donald Trump's administration, which has rejected the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
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Saudi Arabia described the statement as "reckless" and "irresponsible", while Kuwait called it a "flagrant violation of the principles of international law".
Oman warned that the comments "threatened the prospects for peace" and stability in the region.
The Palestinian foreign ministry echoed similar sentiments, saying that the remarks represent an "explicit call to infringe on the sovereignty of states".
It added that the comments also back Israel's extermination and displacement of Palestinians, alongside the annexation of internationally recognised occupied territories.
Under international law, an occupying power is prohibited from seizing land in occupied territory.
In an interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, commentator Tucker Carlson questioned him about the interpretation of Genesis 15 and asked whether the text implies that Israel has a divine right to territory extending “from the Euphrates to the Nile” pic.twitter.com/wwOYC8mkSw
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In its statement, it urged the US to take a "clear and explicit stance" regarding the remarks, which it says "do not help in achieving President Trump's vision for permanent peace in the Middle East".
Meanwhile, the OIC condemned the remarks as a "clear call to violate international law", warning that "extremist ideological rhetoric would fuel extremism and encourage [Israel] to continue its illegal measures".
The Arab League on the other hand stressed that Huckabee's statements "violated all the basic principles and established norms of diplomacy, as well as defying logic and reason".
'It would be fine if they took it all'
Huckabee on The Tucker Carlson Show on Friday claimed that Israel would be well within its rights to seize all the land between the Euphrates and Nile Rivers, which would span five countries as well as the occupied Palestinian territories.
The remarks are a reference to the "Greater Israel" project that has been espoused by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several other senior Israeli officials.
The conservative political commentator pressed Huckabee repeatedly to identify the exact borders of the land that he has long insisted was given by God to the Jewish people.
"What land are you talking about? Because I just read Genesis 15 [in the Bible] 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," Carlson said.
"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."
Huckabee paused and said: "It would be fine if they took it all."
Huckabee is a prominent leader in the pro-Israel evangelical Christian movement.
Huckabee was an evangelical pastor before he rose to the top of Arkansas politics. However, his interest in Israel and the Middle East stemmed from a trip to the region when he was 17 years old, travelling across Greece, Syria and Israel.
In one interview, Huckabee fondly recounted seeing "great-looking Israeli girls in bikinis, just showing off and flirting" when he arrived at the Jordan River.
He has rejected the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine question outright, saying that to prevent Israeli Jews from being a minority in one state, there should be an "aggressive interest in bringing Jews from around the world to the homeland".
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