Right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee sparred over their views on Israel during a podcast released Friday in which Huckabee suggested the Bible gives the Jewish state the right to much of the Middle East.
Carlson and Huckabee spoke during a two-hour episode of “The Tucker Carlson Show” as some in the Republican Party try to tone down disputes over Israel. Carlson has faced scrutiny from some across the political spectrum who have said his criticism of Israel is fanning antisemitism.
The two former Fox News hosts debated what the Bible says about Jews and Israel, and how that should be understood today. Carlson noted that the Book of Genesis, the first portion of the Hebrew and Christian bibles, details how God formed a covenant with Abram, and that the land “from the river of Egypt until the great river, the Euphrates” would belong to Abram’s descendants. Abram is considered the father of the Jewish people.
After Huckabee said God gave that land to the Jews, Carlson pressed him to specify “what land are you talking about?” Some experts interpret the “river of Egypt” to be a riverbed in Sinai, while others understand it to be the Nile. The area could include parts of modern-day Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Turkey.
Huckabee responded: “It would be fine if they took it all,” referring to Israel. “But I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about here today. … They don’t want to take it over, they’re not asking to take it over.”
The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday evening.
Splits have erupted among conservatives — especially evangelicals — between those who support the Israeli state and those who are sharply critical. Carlson, one of the Make America Great Again movement’s most influential leaders, has focused on Israeli and Jewish interest of late, saying the U.S. government isn’t independent enough from the Jewish state.
Carlson recently hosted a friendly interview with white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who told Carlson the major roadblock to American unity is “organized Jewry.” Carlson also hosted amateur historian Darryl Cooper, who implied on the show that Jews’ deaths in the Holocaust were a result of poor Nazi planning, not genocidal intent, and conservative commentator Candace Owens, who said Israel is a “demonic nation.” They all frame their comments on Israel as part of an “America First” agenda that they say has been unfairly framed as antisemitic.
Huckabee has on multiple occasions angered senior Trump administration officials by going further in his pro-Israel advocacy than they are comfortable with, according to two administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal disagreements.
A particularly heated flash point occurred last year when Huckabee met with Jonathan Pollard, an American imprisoned for 30 years for spying for Israel and betraying the United States. Pollard, who gave U.S. military secrets to the Soviet Union in one of the most scandalous espionage cases of the Cold War, was hosted by Huckabee at the U.S. Embassy — treatment some U.S. officials viewed as unbecoming of a diplomat representing the United States, the officials said.
Huckabee has also signaled openness to Israel applying sovereignty in the West Bank, an area widely recognized by the international community as occupied Palestinian territory, in a way that has made White House and State Department officials uncomfortable, the officials said.
Some U.S. evangelical and Israeli leaders have expressed urgent worry recently about what some view as the fraying of the decades-long bond between the Jewish state and American evangelicals.
More than 1,000 evangelical religious leaders went to Israel last month on an unprecedented visit to meet with top officials, talk with Israeli hostages and renew support to the U.S. for Israel. One of the organizers said Carlson’s recent focus on Jews and Israel was a key driver of the effort. They want to stem the growing disaffection among younger religious conservatives who increasingly see Israel as a malign force with outsize influence on U.S. politics and culture.
“The number one issue [on the trip] was the youth in America and what’s transpiring with this ideological war,” Christian Zionist leader and trip organizer Mike Evans told The Washington Post last month.
Carlson is a major influencer among conservative evangelicals and Catholics.
The Huckabee-Carlson show was organized in part by former Fox host Melissa Francis. She told the Times of Israel that she invited Carlson to visit Israel. “He responded that US President Donald Trump has asked him to rein in the fight within the Republican Party over Israel, out of a concern that it was helping the Democratic Party,” the paper reported.
In a video interview earlier this week with the Jerusalem Post, Francis said: “What’s important about what’s going on is that President Trump knows better than anyone that the enemy wins when those on the side of God are divided,” she said. “We’re not going to convince anyone of anything but this is an attempt to really turn down the temperature.”
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