TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Arab and Muslim nations on Saturday sharply condemned comments by the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who said Israel has a right to much of the Middle East.
Huckabee made the comments in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that aired Friday. Carlson said that according to the Bible, the descendants of Abraham would receive land that today would include essentially the entire Middle East, and asked Huckabee if Israel had a right to that land.
Huckabee responded: “It would be fine if they took it all." Huckabee added, however, that Israel was not looking to expand its territory and has a right to security in the land it legitimately holds.
His comments sparked immediate backlash from neighboring Egypt and Jordan, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States, which in separate statements called them extremist, provocative and not in line with the U.S. position.
Egypt's foreign ministry called Huckabee's comments a “blatant violation” of international law, adding that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or other Arab lands.”
“Statements of this nature — extremist and lacking any sound basis — serve only to inflame sentiments and stir religious and national emotions,” the League of Arab States said.
There was no immediate comment from Israel or the United States.
Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has not had fully recognized borders. Its frontiers with Arab neighbors have shifted as a result of wars, annexations, ceasefires and peace agreements.
During the six-day 1967 Mideast war, Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan, Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria. Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula as part of a peace deal with Egypt following the 1973 Mideast war. It also unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
Israel has attempted to deepen control of the occupied West Bank in recent months. It has greatly expanded construction in Jewish settlements, legalized outposts and made significant bureaucratic changes to its policies in the territory. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank and has offered strong assurances that he’d block any move to do so.
Palestinians have for decades called for an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza with east Jerusalem its capital, a claim backed by much of the international community.
Huckabee has long opposed the idea of a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian people. In an interview last year, he said he does not believe in referring to the Arab descendants of people who had lived in British-controlled Palestine as “Palestinians.”
In the latest interview, Carlson pressed Huckabee about his interpretation of Bible verses from the book of Genesis, where he said God promised Abraham and his descendants land from the Nile to the Euphrates.
“That would be the Levant, so that would be Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon. It would also be big parts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq," Carlson said.
Huckabee replied: “Not sure we'd go that far. I mean, it would be a big piece of land."
Israel has encroached on more land since the start of its war with Hamas in Gaza.
Under the current ceasefire, Israel withdrew its troops to a buffer zone but still controls more than half the territory. Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw further, though the ceasefire deal doesn’t give a timeline.
After Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted at the end of 2024, Israel's military seized control of a demilitarized buffer zone in Syria created as part of a 1974 ceasefire between the countries. Israel said the move was temporary and meant to secure its border.
And Israel still occupies five hilltop posts on Lebanese territory following its brief war with Hezbollah in 2024.
Magdy reported from Cairo.
Palestinians walk along the separation barrier between the West Bank and east Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, Sunday Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
FILE - U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is seen during an interview in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)
TESERO, Italy (AP) — Outside the Olympic cross-country stadium in this Dolomite mountain town, Norwegian flags have been draped over the railings like bunting on a national holiday.
Fans from the Scandinavian country have set up camp nearby and kept a live tally of medals won by their athletes at the Milan Cortina Games. After every victory, a gold sticker is pressed onto the board.
There have been plenty to add: Norway is now unequaled when it comes to winter gold.
A day after Johannes Dale-Skjevdal won the 15-kilometer mass start race to set a new mark, Norway was back at it Saturday, sweeping the podium in the men's 50km mass start race to extend its Winter Games record with its 18th gold medal. Norway has 40 medals overall, also a Winter Olympics record.
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, a 29-year-old cross-country skier, was at the front of the 50km race and now has won six gold medals in Italy to take his career tally to a Winter Games record of 11 in just three Olympics.
It has allo helped Norway lead the medal table for days and it should finish atop the standings when the Games wrap up Sunday.
The dominance has raised a familiar question: What makes Norway, a nation of 5.6 million people, such a superpower on the snow at the world’s biggest winter sports event?
Many believe it is a system that has few equals in winter sports.
Katerina Neumannova, a retired Czech Olympic champion, points to Norway’s structure as the foundation of its success. Cross-country skiing is among the country’s most popular sports, with hundreds of clubs and large numbers of kids starting young.
“When you have so many children, so many trainers and so many clubs all around Norway, it’s much easier to find special talent,” Neumannova told The Associated Press.
Norway, she said, has benefitted from the absence of the banned Russian team as well as having a concentration of talented team officials supporting athletes, and even the lack of snow in lower latitudes affecting mainland Europe.
And its depth of public participation, she argued, provides a steady supply of elite competitors.
“Other countries usually have some gaps between generations, but the Norwegian team is very stable,” Neumannova said. “When one athlete ends, younger ones are already coming up.”
Klaebo’s race partner on Wednesday was Einar Hedegart, a 24-year-old Olympic rookie who shared gold in an earlier relay event and won bronze in the 10-kilometer interval start.
A lot Norway’s supremacy stems from tradition as the cradle of Nordic skiing. Most medals came from cross-country and biathlon whiles ki jumper Anna Odine Stroem swept both the normal and large hills, and added a silver in the mixed team event. Jens Luraas Oftebro took both Nordic combined titles.
The medals don’t stop there: Norway won in freestyle skiing, Alpine skiing and completed the speedskating set with a gold, silver and bronze.
Finn Dahl, a superfan who did marketing for the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics at home in Norway, attributed his country's success to a way of life that revolves around snow.
Children, he said, often take trips with their families to the mountains, where skiing is just the normal way of getting around.
“It’s a natural way of sort of moving from one cabin to another,” Dahl said. “It’s a spirit, it is inside you.”
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Sturla Holm Laegreid, of Norway, left, and Johan-Olav Botn, of Norway, lead a group during the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, of Norway, approaches the finish line to win the gold medal in the cross country skiing men's 50km mass start Classic at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Tesero, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, of Norway, poses with the gold medal for the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Silver medalist Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, gold medalist Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo and bronze medalist Emil Iversen, all three of Norway, pose on the podium of the cross country skiing men's 50km mass start Classic at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Tesero, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
