Arab and Muslim states and entities strongly rejected on Sunday a statement made by US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee indicating that it would be acceptable for Israel to exercise control over territories belonging to Arab states, including the occupied West Bank.
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Bahrain, together with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), League of Arab States (LAS), and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued a joint statement rejecting Huckabee’s recent comments.
“They affirm their countries’ categorical rejection of such dangerous and inflammatory remarks, which constitute a flagrant violation of the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and pose a grave threat to the security and stability of the region,” according to a statement shared by the Saudi foreign ministry.
Huckabee, a former Baptist minister and a fervent Israel supporter, was speaking on the podcast of far-right commentator and Israel critic Tucker Carlson.
In an episode released Friday, Carlson pushed Huckabee on the meaning of a biblical verse sometimes interpreted as saying that Israel is entitled to the land between the river Nile in Egypt and the Euphrates in Syria and Iraq.
In response, Huckabee said: “It would be fine if they took it all.”
When pressed, however, he continued that Israel was “not asking to take all of that,” adding: “It was somewhat of a hyperbolic statement.”
“The ministries stressed that these statements directly contradict the vision put forward by US President Donald Trump, as well as the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, which are based on containing escalation and creating a political horizon for a comprehensive settlement that ensures the Palestinian people have their own independent state. They underscored that the plan is grounded in promoting tolerance and peaceful coexistence, and that remarks seeking to legitimize control over the lands of others undermine these objectives, fuel tensions, and constitute incitement rather than advancing peace.”
The foreign ministries stressed that “Israel has no sovereignty whatsoever over the Occupied Palestinian Territory or any other occupied Arab lands.”
They also “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.”
The ministries warned that Israel’s continuation of its expansion policies along with its 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.”
