Arab League slams US ambassador's statement on Israel's right to Middle East

The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, has called the remarks by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee “extremely radical,” after Huckabee suggested that the Jewish state has a right to nearly the entire Middle East.

Aboul Gheit stated that Huckabee’s statements “contradict all basic principles of diplomacy” and warned that they could “inflame religious and national sentiments” at a time when peace negotiations are ongoing, Caliber.Az reports per Egyptian media.

The controversy stems from an interview conducted by American journalist Tucker Carlson on Saturday. Carlson asked Huckabee to comment on Genesis 15, in which God is said to grant Abraham’s descendants the land from the Nile to the Euphrates. When asked whether this, in his view, meant that Israel has the right to nearly the entire Middle East, Huckabee reportedly replied, “It would be nice if they took all of it.”

The remarks have sparked criticism from Arab diplomats, who say such rhetoric risks escalating regional tensions during a delicate diplomatic period.

By Khagan Isayev