Riyadh (Somalia Today) – A powerful coalition of Arab and Muslim nations on Sunday condemned remarks by the US ambassador to Israel suggesting it was acceptable for the country to annex territory from neighbouring Arab states, warning that such rhetoric could destabilise the region.
In a joint statement led by Saudi Arabia, 14 countries and three major regional blocs described comments by envoy Mike Huckabee as “dangerous and inflammatory” and a blatant breach of international law.
The diplomatic storm followed an interview Huckabee gave to conservative US commentator Tucker Carlson.
Asked about Israel’s territorial claims, the ambassador cited a biblical passage describing land stretching “from the Nile to the Euphrates” and said “it would be fine if they took it all.”
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor with strong ties to the American evangelical movement and a long-time supporter of Israeli settlements, later softened his remarks.
He said Israel was not seeking to expand into sovereign neighbouring states, but his comments sparked immediate anger across a region still reeling from the fallout of the Gaza war.
‘Grave threat’
Sunday’s statement was signed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the League of Arab States (LAS), and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The signatories said Huckabee’s remarks posed a “grave threat” to Middle East security and stability.
The inclusion of Egypt and Jordan—both of which border Israel and have long-standing peace treaties anchored in mutual territorial recognition—highlighted the depth of the backlash.
The coalition said Huckabee was trying to “legitimise control over the lands of others,” warning that such language would “fuel tensions” across the region.
It urged Washington to clarify its official position. Neither the US State Department nor the Israeli government immediately issued a public response.
Clashing visions
The Arab and Islamic group also sought to separate the ambassador’s hardline ideology from official US diplomacy.
The joint statement said Huckabee’s remarks ran directly counter to the “vision” put forward by US President Donald Trump, as well as a comprehensive plan aimed at ending the devastating conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Trump has recently promoted a major US-led initiative to stabilise the coastal enclave and mobilise international reconstruction funding after years of intense warfare between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The signatory ministries said Trump’s efforts rest on “containing escalation” and creating a political horizon that guarantees Palestinians an independent state based on tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
“Remarks seeking to legitimise control over the lands of others undermine these objectives, fuel tensions, and constitute incitement rather than advancing peace,” the statement said.
West Bank tensions
The diplomatic clash comes at a particularly sensitive moment on the ground in the occupied territories.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
While it withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, the West Bank remains under Israeli military occupation, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited self-rule in fragmented areas.
Last week, Israel’s right-wing cabinet approved steps to begin formal land registration in the West Bank for the first time since 1967.
Palestinian officials and international human rights groups have denounced the move as “de facto annexation,” warning it could accelerate the dispossession of Palestinian property.
Israel’s pro-settler factions—whose cause Huckabee has publicly championed for decades—have intensified pressure on the government to formalise civilian control over the territory.
International law
Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal.
That view gained new momentum in 2024 when the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s top legal body, issued a landmark advisory opinion declaring Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territories unlawful.
The court reiterated that acquiring territory by force is inadmissible under international law.
UN Security Council Resolution 242, adopted after the 1967 war, also established the “land for peace” principle and called for Israel to withdraw from territories it occupied.
Sunday’s declaration echoed that position, saying Israel has “no sovereignty whatsoever” over the occupied Palestinian territory or any other occupied Arab lands.
Path to statehood
The coalition rejected any move to annex the West Bank or separate it administratively from the Gaza Strip, opposed the expansion of settlements, and pledged to resist “any threat to the sovereignty of Arab states.”
While several Arab nations established diplomatic ties with Israel under the 2020 US-brokered Abraham Accords, regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia has maintained a firm stance.
Riyadh has repeatedly said it will not normalise relations with Israel without a clear, irreversible pathway to Palestinian statehood.
The coalition ended by reaffirming its “steadfast commitment” to the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and to the creation of an independent state along the lines of 4 June 1967.
That position remains at the heart of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which offered Israel full regional recognition and normal relations in exchange for a withdrawal from all lands seized in 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The group warned Washington that failing to curb such “incendiary statements” and “expansionist policies” would only inflame violence and further erode hopes for a lasting Middle East peace.
