Independent broadcaster Tucker Carlson was arrested in Israel on Wednesday for so-called ‘hate speech’ violations he made on social media.
The former Fox News host flew into Tel Aviv for a sit-down with Mike Huckabee, who asked Carlson to speak to him directly following an online spat about the country’s treatment of Christians.
Dailymail.co.uk reports: Carlson, who also frequently criticizes Israel for its military actions in Gaza, took Huckabee up on his offer.
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But as critics and pro-Israel activists began piling on Carlson for purportedly not leaving the airport during his brief visit, he revealed that he was met with hostility in the Middle Eastern country.
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Carlson exclusively told the Daily Mail that shortly after the interview, Israeli officials confiscated his passport and hauled one of his colleagues off to an interrogation room.
‘Men who identified themselves as airport security took our passports, hauled our executive producer into a side room and then demanded to know what we spoke to Ambassador Huckabee about,’ Carlson told the Daily Mail.
‘It was bizarre. We’re now out of the country.’
Prior to the interview, Carlson posted a photo on X of himself and his business partner, Neil Patel, in front of Ben Gurion airport on Wednesday with the caption: ‘Greetings from Israel.’
‘Too bad Tucker stayed in the airport in the face of so many invitations to see so many wonderful places. A huge and obviously intentional missed opportunity,’ taunted David Friedman, the former US ambassador to Israel during Trump’s first term.
Two sources familiar with the matter, however, told the Daily Mail that the Israeli government initially did not want to allow Carlson into the country, prompting a delicate negotiation involving the State Department.
In the end, the Israeli government decided not to bar Carlson from entering the country in order to avoid a ‘diplomatic incident,’ according to a Channel 13 report.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Israel denied that Carlson was detained and claimed he ‘received the same passport control questions that countless visitors to Israel, including Ambassador Huckabee and other diplomats, receive as part of normal entrance and exit from Israel.’
‘It is not accurate that Israel only was going to let Tucker into the country for the interview,’ the representative added.
‘The only engagement the Embassy had with Israel about his visit was to coordinate his private plane landing as part of facilitating a seamless visit. It was Tucker who chose to only come into the country for a few hours and depart. And Tucker received the same positive treatment of any visitors to Israel.’
The Daily Mail has contacted the White House and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office for comment.
Carlson accused Huckabee last week on his YouTube show of not ensuring proper protections 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 Israel for a discussion.
‘Instead of talking about me, why don’t you come talk to me?’ Huckabee wrote on X. Carlson replied by welcoming the invitation, before noting that they were working on setting up the interview.
Israel’s popularity remains at an all-time low in the GOP among young Republican voters and Trump supporters.
The Carlson-Huckabee event was reportedly an attempt by the Trump administration to prevent debates surrounding Israel from breaking the GOP’s conservative coalition ahead of the midterms.
Trump urged Carlson and others within the GOP to ease off internal fights with Republicans over Israel, according to former Fox News anchor Melissa Francis.
‘Everybody’s looking for a way to turn down the temperature,’ Francis told the Jerusalem Post. ‘President Trump is telling everyone, including Tucker, “Let’s take this down.”‘
Carlson is a longtime ally of Vice President JD Vance and speaks with Trump on a range of issues, including foreign policy.
Last month, Carlson visited the White House twice and met with Trump in the Oval Office on at least one known occasion.
