Tucker Carlson Taken into Custody in Israel

Tucker Carlson, a prominent conservative podcaster, recently found himself in a tense situation during a visit to Israel. He and his team were reportedly detained after an interview with Mike Huckabee, who currently serves as the U.S. ambassador to Israel. The visit was prompted by Carlson’s criticisms of Israel’s military activities in Gaza and its treatment of Christians, which led to an online exchange with Huckabee. Accepting Huckabee’s challenge to discuss these issues face-to-face, Carlson traveled to Tel Aviv for the meeting.

Following the interview, Carlson disclosed to the Daily Mail that their departure from Israel was unexpectedly complicated. He claimed that Israeli officials confiscated his passport and took his executive producer aside for questioning. According to Carlson, the officials, identifying themselves as airport security, demanded to know the contents of his conversation with Ambassador Huckabee. “It was bizarre. We’re now out of the country,” Carlson expressed in his statement to the Daily Mail.

Earlier that day, Carlson had shared a photo on social media alongside his business partner Neil Patel at Ben Gurion Airport, captioning it “Greetings from Israel.” Despite the brief nature of his visit, David Friedman, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel during Trump’s presidency, criticized Carlson for not exploring the country. Friedman remarked on the missed opportunity, suggesting it was intentional. According to sources cited by the Daily Mail, Carlson’s entry into Israel was initially met with resistance from the Israeli government, necessitating intervention from the U.S. State Department to resolve the situation.

The Israeli government decided to not bar Carlson from entering the country the visit in order to not cause a ‘diplomatic incident,’ according to a Channel 13 report. The Daily Mail has contacted the White House, State Department, 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 over 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 the they were working on setting up the interview. Israel’s popularity remains at a 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 to 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.