Huckabee tells Lebanese being bombed to thank Israel for seedless watermelons

The US ambassador to Israel has previously said Israel has the right to take over ‘all' of the Middle East Mike Huckabee visits the Israeli-occupied Palestinian village of Taybeh in the West Bank in July 2025 Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel and a passionate advocate of its wars in the region, has told the people of Lebanon to be grateful for Israeli contributions to its society. In the speech, Huckabee extolls the various purported Israeli contributions to society, including USB drive

"I wonder if they understand that every time they use a USB, every time they use car navigation, that every time they eat a cherry tomato or have a delicious bite of seedless watermelon, instead of saying, 'I can't talk to those people,' they should step across the border, shake their hands and say, 'Thank you'." Lebanon's southern border is currently subject to intense bombardment, and scores of displaced residents who have attempted to return to their homes in the south have been targeted by Israel Lebanon's Health Ministry says Israeli air strikes have killed 3,151 people and wounded 9,571 since 2 March. 'Make a choice': Huckabee warns Gulf to choose between Iran and Israel The dead include 123 medics, at least 210 children and nearly 300 women. Huckabee is an outspoken and unapologetic Christian Zionist who has frequently expressed strong backing for Israeli government policies. In an interview with US podcast host Tucker Carlson, Huckabee supported Israel's right to take over all of the Middle East to form "Greater Israel", and said the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament gives the modern-day state of Israel the right to expand its borders. "It would be fine if they took it all," Huckabee said when Carlson asked him whether Israel had the right, according to the Bible, to occupy the land between the Nile and the Euphrates. Huckabee has also been an advocate of the US-Israeli war on Iran , which is currently at a stalemate, with Iran blocking off the critical energy chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz. Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form . More about MEE can be found here .

Key points

• "I wonder if they understand that every time they use a USB, every time they use car navigation, that every time they eat a cherry tomato or have a delicious bite of seedless watermelon, instead of…
• 'Make a choice': Huckabee warns Gulf to choose between Iran and Israel The dead include 123 medics, at least 210 children and nearly 300 women.
• Huckabee is an outspoken and unapologetic Christian Zionist who has frequently expressed strong backing for Israeli government policies.
• In an interview with US podcast host Tucker Carlson, Huckabee supported Israel's right to take over all of the Middle East to form "Greater Israel", and said the Book of Genesis in the Old Testamen…
• "It would be fine if they took it all," Huckabee said when Carlson asked him whether Israel had the right, according to the Bible, to occupy the land between the Nile and the Euphrates.