The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, stated that Israel has a “biblical right” to occupy the entire Middle East—or at least the lion’s share of it.

“It would be fine if (Israel) took it all,” he said in a podcast published yesterday.

Huckabee made the remarks in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, during which the U.S. ambassador defended Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip.

After Huckabee claimed that Israel has a biblical right to vast parts of the Middle East, Carlson asked him to clarify “which territories are you referring to?”

“It would be fine if they took it all,” Huckabee replied, referring to Israel’s biblical claim to the region stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates.

“But I don’t think that’s the issue we’re discussing here today… They don’t want to occupy it, they’re not asking to occupy it,” he said.

He emphasized that Israel is referring to the area where the State of Israel exists today and seeks to live peacefully, noting that the Jewish state is not attempting to take control of Jordan, Syria, Iraq, or any other country, but wants to safeguard its population.