Mike Huckabee made headlines when he said Israel has a biblical right to land from Iraq to Egypt in an interview with Tucker Carlson. Israel supporters tried to dismiss the idea as nonsense, but Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid says he agrees.
February 24, 2026
MONDOWEISS
Yair Lapid attends a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem May 15, 2022. (Photo: Abir Sultan/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)
Everyone is talking about Tucker Carlson’s interview with U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. It has amassed millions of views, and if there’s one item that caught attention, it was Huckabee’s view that Israel had a biblical right to the land from the Euphrates River in Iraq to the Nile River in Egypt.
Carlson was shocked and pressed him on this:
“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 was clear: “It would be fine if they took it all.”
Some were in shock. Israeli hasbarists like Eylon Levy tried to tone it down – responding on X that “literally nobody” with power in Israel believes this and to think so is “a delusional fantasy of the antisemite’s imagination.” To which he added, “Stop spreading mindless conspiratorial bullshit.”
Even Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy opined that Huckabee was an extremist who neither represented the U.S. nor Israel, “he barely represents its crazies,” he wrote. “Huckabee Speaks Boldly in Ways Even Ben-Gvir and Kahane Wouldn’t Dare,” was Levy’s title:
“Not for nothing did Carlson say: This man doesn’t represent my country; he represents Israel. It’s neither of these, Carlson. This man doesn’t represent Israel; he barely represents its crazies. But it’s definitely possible that he represents an America in the making, one whose Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently lauded the West’s “Christian heritage” while in Munich.”
But then, the ‘liberal’ Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid proved both the Levys wrong.
In a press conference Monday for his party Yesh Atid (‘There is a Future’), Lapid answered a question from a religious Kipa News journalist:
“Good afternoon sir. The Ambassador Huckabee said this week, and we know the extent of the American administration on the government here, that he supports Israeli control from the Euphrates to the Nile, this means [control] over Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, do you support it or do you think this should be stopped?”
Lapid’s answered:
“Look, I don’t think I have a dispute on the biblical level [about] what the original borders of Israel are. The Euphrates, the last time I checked, was in Iraq. I don’t think that when the Americans entered Iraq, they experienced great relief. I support anything that will allow the Jews [to have] a big, vast, strong land, and a safe shelter for us, for our children, and for our children’s children. That’s what I support.”
Lapid was challenged on the size:
“How vast?”
“However possible.”
“Until Iraq?”
“The discussion is a security discussion. The fact that we are in our ancestral land… Yesh Atid’s position is as follows: Zionism is based on the bible. Our mandate of the land of Israel is biblical. The biblical borders of Israel are clear. There are also considerations of security, of policy, and of time. We were in exile for 2,000 years… you don’t really want all this lecture, right? At least you were not waiting for it… The answer is: there are practical considerations here. Beyond the practical considerations, I believe that our ownership deed over the land of Israel is the bible, therefore the borders are the biblical borders.”
“Wait, so fundamentally, the great, big land of Israel?”
“Fundamentally, the great, big and vast Israel, as much as possible within the limitations of Israeli security and considerations of Israeli policy”.
So there you have it. The bible is our deed. Like the first Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, said.
Lapid has stated his principle of “maximum Jews on maximum land with maximum security and with minimum Palestinians” over ten years ago. Now he is saying that the “maximum land” is just a question of exigency – “practical considerations.”
A ‘liberal’, ‘secular’ Israeli opposition leader, just told us that “Zionism is based on the bible.”
I think we need to believe him. We need to stop talking about Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, and Huckabee. It’s Zionism, stupid.
Everyone is talking about Tucker Carlson’s interview with U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. It has amassed millions of views, and if there’s one item that caught attention, it was Huckabee’s view that Israel had a biblical right to the land from the Euphrates River in Iraq to the Nile River in Egypt.
Carlson was shocked and pressed him on this:
“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 was clear: “It would be fine if they took it all.”
Some were in shock. Israeli hasbarists like Eylon Levy tried to tone it down – responding on X that “literally nobody” with power in Israel believes this and to think so is “a delusional fantasy of the antisemite’s imagination.” To which he added, “Stop spreading mindless conspiratorial bullshit.”
Even Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy opined that Huckabee was an extremist who neither represented the U.S. nor Israel, “he barely represents its crazies,” he wrote. “Huckabee Speaks Boldly in Ways Even Ben-Gvir and Kahane Wouldn’t Dare,” was Levy’s title:
“Not for nothing did Carlson say: This man doesn’t represent my country; he represents Israel. It’s neither of these, Carlson. This man doesn’t represent Israel; he barely represents its crazies. But it’s definitely possible that he represents an America in the making, one whose Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently lauded the West’s “Christian heritage” while in Munich.”
But then, the ‘liberal’ Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid proved both the Levys wrong.
In a press conference Monday for his party Yesh Atid (‘There is a Future’), Lapid answered a question from a religious Kipa News journalist:
“Good afternoon sir. The Ambassador Huckabee said this week, and we know the extent of the American administration on the government here, that he supports Israeli control from the Euphrates to the Nile, this means [control] over Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, do you support it or do you think this should be stopped?”
Lapid’s answered:
“Look, I don’t think I have a dispute on the biblical level [about] what the original borders of Israel are. The Euphrates, the last time I checked, was in Iraq. I don’t think that when the Americans entered Iraq, they experienced great relief. I support anything that will allow the Jews [to have] a big, vast, strong land, and a safe shelter for us, for our children, and for our children’s children. That’s what I support.”
Lapid was challenged on the size:
“How vast?”
“However possible.”
“Until Iraq?”
“The discussion is a security discussion. The fact that we are in our ancestral land… Yesh Atid’s position is as follows: Zionism is based on the bible. Our mandate of the land of Israel is biblical. The biblical borders of Israel are clear. There are also considerations of security, of policy, and of time. We were in exile for 2,000 years… you don’t really want all this lecture, right? At least you were not waiting for it… The answer is: there are practical considerations here. Beyond the practical considerations, I believe that our ownership deed over the land of Israel is the bible, therefore the borders are the biblical borders.”
“Wait, so fundamentally, the great, big land of Israel?”
“Fundamentally, the great, big and vast Israel, as much as possible within the limitations of Israeli security and considerations of Israeli policy”.
So there you have it. The bible is our deed. Like the first Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, said.
Lapid has stated his principle of “maximum Jews on maximum land with maximum security and with minimum Palestinians” over ten years ago. Now he is saying that the “maximum land” is just a question of exigency – “practical considerations.”
A ‘liberal’, ‘secular’ Israeli opposition leader, just told us that “Zionism is based on the bible.”
I think we need to believe him. We need to stop talking about Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, and Huckabee. It’s Zionism, stupid.
The Shift: International outcry over Huckabee claim that Israel can control from Egypt to Iraq
The Trump administration is in damage control mode after Mike Huckabee claimed Israel has the biblically mandated right to stretch from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River in Iraq.
The Trump administration is in damage control mode after Mike Huckabee claimed Israel has the biblically mandated right to stretch from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River in Iraq.
February 26, 2026
MONDOWEISS
Ambassador Mike Huckabee’s Participation in Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day 2025 Ceremony, April 24, 2025 (Photo: U.S. Embassy Jerusalem)
The popular conservative pundit Tucker Carlson recently interviewed U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
Carlson pressed the former Arkansas Governor on the country and the U.S. relationship with it, repeatedly leaving Huckabee flummoxed. Huckabee made many perplexing claims, but his most controversial statement came when Carlson asked him whether Israel has a biblical right to the land.
Carlson asked Huckabee, who is a Baptist minister and a Christian Zionist, about a Bible verse in which God promises Abraham that his descendants will receive land “from the wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates – the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
Carlson said this basically amounted to the entire Middle East.
“Israel is a land that God gave, through Abraham, to a people that he chose,” responded Huckabee. “It was a people, a place and a purpose.”
Asked whether Israel had a right to it, he responded, “It would be fine if they took it all.”
At the time I am typing this, the Carlson/Huckabee interview has been watched over 3 million times and is already causing something of an international scandal.
The governments of more than a dozen countries, including allies such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, issued a joint statement condemning Huckabee’s comments and expressing “strong concern,” as his position directly contradicts official U.S. policy on annexation.
“The Ministries reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty whatsoever over the Occupied Palestinian Territory or any other occupied Arab lands,” explains the statement. “They reiterated their firm rejection of any attempts to annex the West Bank or separate it from the Gaza Strip, their strong opposition to the expansion of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and their categorical rejection of any threat to the sovereignty of Arab states.”
“They further warned that the continuation of Israel’s expansionist policies and unlawful measures will only inflame violence and conflict in the region and undermine the prospects for peace and called for an end to these incendiary statements,” it continues. “The Ministries underscored their countries’ steadfast commitment to the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the establishment of their independent state along the lines of 4 June 1967, and the end of the occupation of all Arab lands.”
The incident has forced Trump officials, such as Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker, to call Arab leaders and assure them that Huckabee was expressing his personal views and that the administration’s policies have not shifted.
In addition to the international fallout, the interview is reverberating domestically, as it further symbolizes the growing rift over Israel within the Republican Party. A Times of Israel report on the situation refers to the wider fight as “battle for the GOP’s soul.”
The new controversy comes just two weeks after right-wing activist Carrie Prejean Boller was ousted from Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission after criticizing Israel during a hearing.
AIPAC convention
It wasn’t long ago that AIPAC held a massive annual conference that was broadcast on C-SPAN. Thousands gathered to watch presidential hopefuls and influential lawmakers openly pledge their support for Israel.
After its 2020 policy conference, AIPAC put a pause on public meetings over COVID concerns, but they never brought back the annual conference, preferring to embrace smaller meetings and video conferences.
Last weekend was the lobbying group’s annual Congressional Summit, and the event certainly wasn’t broadcast on national television. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find any in-depth reporting on it.
An AIPAC source told Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch that the meeting would focus on Iran. In her piece on the event, she notes that the organization has “largely stayed silent” amid its rapidly declining reputation among Democratic lawmakers and candidates.
“The question facing the group heading into the midterm elections is whether growing discontent with AIPAC among the party grassroots and a growing number of rank-and-file Democrats will impact its time-tested strategy of working with both parties’ leadership,” writes Deutch. “But the decision by leading congressional lawmakers to attend the conference reveals that AIPAC’s bipartisan playbook is still effective, even as it shows signs of strain.”
Yes, it’s true that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R‑LA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D‑NY), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries attended the event, but will AIPAC’s overall election strategy prove effective?
Earlier this month, their attacks on centrist Tom Malinowski in New Jersey’s 11th district Democratic primary probably helped Analilia Mejia, the most pro-Palestine candidate in the race, prevail. Now they’re reportedly intervening in the Illinois 9th district, to target Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, a move that could propel Palestine advocate Kat Abughazaleh to victory.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who currently represents that district, just pulled her endorsement of Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller in Illinois’ 2nd district over AIPAC donations.
“Illinois deserves leaders who put voters first, not AIPAC or out-of-state Trump donors,” said Schakowsky. “I cannot support any candidate running for Congress who is funded by these outside interests.”
Ambassador Mike Huckabee’s Participation in Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day 2025 Ceremony, April 24, 2025 (Photo: U.S. Embassy Jerusalem)
The popular conservative pundit Tucker Carlson recently interviewed U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
Carlson pressed the former Arkansas Governor on the country and the U.S. relationship with it, repeatedly leaving Huckabee flummoxed. Huckabee made many perplexing claims, but his most controversial statement came when Carlson asked him whether Israel has a biblical right to the land.
Carlson asked Huckabee, who is a Baptist minister and a Christian Zionist, about a Bible verse in which God promises Abraham that his descendants will receive land “from the wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates – the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
Carlson said this basically amounted to the entire Middle East.
“Israel is a land that God gave, through Abraham, to a people that he chose,” responded Huckabee. “It was a people, a place and a purpose.”
Asked whether Israel had a right to it, he responded, “It would be fine if they took it all.”
At the time I am typing this, the Carlson/Huckabee interview has been watched over 3 million times and is already causing something of an international scandal.
The governments of more than a dozen countries, including allies such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, issued a joint statement condemning Huckabee’s comments and expressing “strong concern,” as his position directly contradicts official U.S. policy on annexation.
“The Ministries reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty whatsoever over the Occupied Palestinian Territory or any other occupied Arab lands,” explains the statement. “They reiterated their firm rejection of any attempts to annex the West Bank or separate it from the Gaza Strip, their strong opposition to the expansion of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and their categorical rejection of any threat to the sovereignty of Arab states.”
“They further warned that the continuation of Israel’s expansionist policies and unlawful measures will only inflame violence and conflict in the region and undermine the prospects for peace and called for an end to these incendiary statements,” it continues. “The Ministries underscored their countries’ steadfast commitment to the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the establishment of their independent state along the lines of 4 June 1967, and the end of the occupation of all Arab lands.”
The incident has forced Trump officials, such as Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker, to call Arab leaders and assure them that Huckabee was expressing his personal views and that the administration’s policies have not shifted.
In addition to the international fallout, the interview is reverberating domestically, as it further symbolizes the growing rift over Israel within the Republican Party. A Times of Israel report on the situation refers to the wider fight as “battle for the GOP’s soul.”
The new controversy comes just two weeks after right-wing activist Carrie Prejean Boller was ousted from Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission after criticizing Israel during a hearing.
AIPAC convention
It wasn’t long ago that AIPAC held a massive annual conference that was broadcast on C-SPAN. Thousands gathered to watch presidential hopefuls and influential lawmakers openly pledge their support for Israel.
After its 2020 policy conference, AIPAC put a pause on public meetings over COVID concerns, but they never brought back the annual conference, preferring to embrace smaller meetings and video conferences.
Last weekend was the lobbying group’s annual Congressional Summit, and the event certainly wasn’t broadcast on national television. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find any in-depth reporting on it.
An AIPAC source told Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch that the meeting would focus on Iran. In her piece on the event, she notes that the organization has “largely stayed silent” amid its rapidly declining reputation among Democratic lawmakers and candidates.
“The question facing the group heading into the midterm elections is whether growing discontent with AIPAC among the party grassroots and a growing number of rank-and-file Democrats will impact its time-tested strategy of working with both parties’ leadership,” writes Deutch. “But the decision by leading congressional lawmakers to attend the conference reveals that AIPAC’s bipartisan playbook is still effective, even as it shows signs of strain.”
Yes, it’s true that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R‑LA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D‑NY), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries attended the event, but will AIPAC’s overall election strategy prove effective?
Earlier this month, their attacks on centrist Tom Malinowski in New Jersey’s 11th district Democratic primary probably helped Analilia Mejia, the most pro-Palestine candidate in the race, prevail. Now they’re reportedly intervening in the Illinois 9th district, to target Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, a move that could propel Palestine advocate Kat Abughazaleh to victory.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who currently represents that district, just pulled her endorsement of Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller in Illinois’ 2nd district over AIPAC donations.
“Illinois deserves leaders who put voters first, not AIPAC or out-of-state Trump donors,” said Schakowsky. “I cannot support any candidate running for Congress who is funded by these outside interests.”
