PNN – Tucker Carlson, a well-known American journalist and host, and his staff were arrested after interviewing US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee about the failure to ensure adequate protection for Christians in the occupied territories.
Carlson told the Daily Mail: People claiming to be airport security took our passports, pulled our executive producer into the next room, and demanded to know what we had said to Ambassador Huckabee. It was strange. We have now left this country.
Tucker Carlson said he and his staff were detained on Wednesday after interviewing Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to the occupied territories.
Huckabee had asked Carlson to speak directly to him after a controversy erupted online over Israel’s treatment of Christians. Carlson, who has frequently criticized Israel for its military actions in Gaza, accepted Huckabee’s offer.
After the interview, Carlson revealed that he was met with hostility at the airport. Shortly after the interview, Carlson told the media, Israeli authorities confiscated his passport and took his producer to an interrogation room.
On Wednesday, Carlson posted a photo of himself and his business partner Neil Patel in front of Ben Gurion Airport on social media with the caption “Greetings from Israel.”
However, two sources familiar with the matter told the Daily Mail that the Israeli government initially did not want to allow Carlson to enter, leading to sensitive negotiations with the Foreign Ministry.
Ultimately, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 13, the Israeli government decided not to block Carlson’s entry in order to avoid a “diplomatic incident.”
On his YouTube show last week, Carlson accused Huckabee of failing to ensure proper protection for Christians in Israel.
Huckabee, who has known Carlson for more than three decades and previously worked with him at Fox News, responded by inviting him to the occupied territories.
Israel’s popularity in the Republican Party remains at an all-time low among young Republican voters and Trump supporters.
According to published reports, the meeting between Carlson and Huckabee was an attempt by the Trump administration to prevent the collapse of the conservative Republican Party coalition over the issue of Israel ahead of the midterm elections.