Tucker Carlson Interviewed the U.S. Ambassador to Israel. It Went to Some Scary Places.

"Christians must believe, Huckabee presses, that the Jewish people have a right to a homeland because the Bible says so. Carlson asks for further clarification. He quotes the passage verbatim-God promising land stretching "from the Nile to the Euphrates"-and asks the obvious follow-up: Does that mean Israel has a divine claim to what is, functionally, all of the Middle East?"

"The Nile runs through the middle of Egypt, feeding nearly every one of its 100 million people. It's in the country's national anthem. In the best love songs. A statue of the beloved Umm Kulthum looks out over it. The pyramids rise not far from its banks. Without the Nile, there isn't an Egypt."

"For a powerful American diplomat to casually offer it up-citing the Bible-doesn't read like edgy podcast banter. It's a major international provocation. Within hours, officials across the region were issuing statements, and Saudi Arabia led a response."

During a Tucker Carlson interview, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee stated that Israel would be justified in claiming all Middle Eastern territory from the Nile to the Euphrates based on biblical Christian Zionist beliefs. Though Huckabee later hedged by calling it a hypothetical irrelevant scenario, the viral clip provoked significant international backlash. In Egypt, the statement resonated as a major provocation given the Nile's fundamental importance to Egyptian survival, culture, and national identity. The comment prompted swift diplomatic responses from regional officials, with Saudi Arabia leading regional reactions to what was perceived as a serious threat to Egyptian sovereignty and regional stability.

Read at Slate Magazine