A bruising, nearly three-hour exchange between conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has ignited political backlash across the Middle East and exposed deep fractures within the American right over Israel, religion, and US foreign policy. Filmed at Ben-Gurion Airport, the wide-ranging interview mixed theology, Gaza war ethics, espionage controversies, and sensational allegations—some of which Carlson later retracted.
The most explosive segment centered on a biblical discussion of territory promised in Genesis. Carlson pressed Huckabee on whether Israel had a right to land stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates, a span that would encompass large parts of today’s Middle East. Huckabee replied that “it would be fine if they took it all,” quickly adding that Israel is not attempting to seize neighboring countries and is focused on protecting its people and maintaining security. The remark triggered swift diplomatic backlash. Jordan’s Foreign Ministry condemned the statement as “absurd and provocative,” Egypt called it a violation of diplomatic norms, and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said it contradicted long-standing US policy positions. Palestinian officials urged Washington to clarify its stance, and foreign ministers from multiple Arab and Muslim countries described the language as dangerous and inflammatory.
One of the interview’s sharpest exchanges revolved around Jonathan Pollard, the former US Navy intelligence analyst convicted of spying for Israel in the 1980s. Carlson accused Huckabee of undermining American interests by meeting Pollard at the US Embassy in Jerusalem, calling him “the greatest traitor in modern American history” and citing Pollard’s controversial remarks about Jewish dual loyalty. Huckabee defended the meeting as a brief condolence visit after Pollard’s wife died, stressing that he had never supported Pollard’s actions and insisting the meeting was neither secret nor extraordinary for an ambassador. The debate underscored how Pollard remains a political nerve in US-Israel relations decades after his conviction.
Carlson also reignited controversy surrounding his claims about the treatment of Christians in Israel. He alleged Christians face persecution and discrimination, referencing incidents such as spitting attacks by ultra-Orthodox extremists and restrictions tied to Israel’s Law of Return. Huckabee rejected the broader narrative, calling such incidents the work of a small extremist minority and emphasizing that Israel’s Christian population has grown significantly since the country’s founding. He said he had never personally experienced hostility toward Christians and argued that minority integration in Israel—including Arab citizens serving in senior public roles—cuts against the idea of systematic persecution.
Another intense moment revolved around Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reference to “Amalek” during the Gaza war. Carlson argued that invoking the biblical enemy could be interpreted as genocidal rhetoric, while Huckabee dismissed that interpretation, insisting Israel had neither the intent nor the conduct of genocide and emphasizing the country’s military restraint.
If the theology was combustible, the Epstein segment was napalm. Carlson accused Israeli President Isaac Herzog of being on “Pedo Island,” telling Huckabee that Herzog was “listed as a visitor.” The phrase refers to Jeffrey Epstein’s private Caribbean island, where Epstein hosted well-connected guests and where sexual abuse of minors is alleged to have taken place. But Carlson’s claim about Herzog had no evidentiary foundation, and within roughly a day, Carlson publicly apologized, saying he had no evidence Herzog ever visited the island and citing an unequivocal denial from Herzog’s office.
Carlson’s broader line of attack also leaned into themes that circulate in the antisemitic far right ecosystem. In his framing of Israel as uniquely dangerous and unaccountable, he invoked the USS Liberty—an episode often weaponized by conspiracy theorists to suggest a deliberate Israeli attack on the United States. In reality, the USS Liberty was a US Navy intelligence ship attacked during the 1967 Six-Day War by Israeli forces; Israel said it was a tragic mistake, the US government ultimately accepted Israel’s explanation, and the incident remains disputed and emotionally charged—making it catnip for activists who want to launder darker narratives about Jews and power.
The Herzog accusation was only one part of Carlson’s prosecutorial posture: he prodded Huckabee about American leverage, Israel’s standard of living versus US aid, and claims about Israel sheltering accused sex offenders. Huckabee alternated between policy defenses and a faith-based argument for the alliance, while Carlson’s line of questioning repeatedly returned to a single premise: that Washington’s relationship with Israel is not simply close, but distorted.In the end, the Carlson-Huckabee confrontation offered more than a personal feud. It put on live display a widening ideological split within conservative politics—between an older evangelical tradition that treats Israel as a biblical and strategic imperative and a newer populist movement skeptical of foreign entanglements. By blending religion, diplomacy, and explosive allegations—from Pollard to Epstein to the Liberty—the interview became a flashpoint reflecting how debates over Israel are reshaping the American right.