The White House is defending Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee amid global fallout from his interview with Tucker Carlson in which he appeared to endorse an Israeli conquest of the Middle East.

Carlson had pressed Huckabee on his interpretation of Israel's right to exist on a Biblical basis. Much of the interview saw Carlson attempt to pin down Huckabee on the scope of Israel's territory claims on that basis. Huckabee told Carlson that "it would be fine if they took it all," referencing all the land between the Nile and Euphrates rivers.

The White House insisted that the remarks were taken out of context, Politico reported. The cleanup, however, comes after Middle Eastern nations, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey Syria, Kuwait, Lebanon, and a number of other nations and groups, issued a joint condemnation of Huckabee's remarks.

The concept of a "Greater Israel" defined by Genesis Chapter 15 is a fringe position in geopolitics and its consolidation is not public policy of either the Israeli government or the Trump administration.

Most major Christian denominations do not endorse Zionism as a point of theology and several mainline denominations have outright condemned it. The position maintains popularity with many evangelical Christians, however.

Carlson has attracted scrutiny from Republican leaders in recent years, notably due to his interviews with anti-Zionist or Israel-skeptic political figures.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.