Afrasianet - U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson has criticized his country's focus on supporting Israel at a time when the United States is facing many domestic problems, saying that "Israel is a very big burden on the United States."
In an interview with Saudi Arabia's Rotana Gulf TV channel following his visit to Israel, Carlson said that Israeli-American relations are hurting his country.
In the interview published Friday, he added, "Israel is a very big burden on the United States. In fact, it is the biggest burden we face outside our borders."
Carlson clarified that he does not hold the Israeli government responsible in this context, considering that it is acting in a way that serves its interests.
He said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to help his country in all he can, and he is using the United States to achieve this.
Carlson said he did not understand why U.S. leaders would allow it.
Many within the United States who defend Israel are exerting enormous pressure to use U.S. resources to wage a war for regime change in Iran.
"How can it be in the interest of the United States to overthrow the Iranian government on behalf of Israel, not to build a new Iran, but simply to kill those in power and create chaos in Iran, in the hope that something better will happen?”.
He said that this is not in the interest of the United States, nor the countries of the region, nor even in the interest of Israel itself.
"I don't think Israel understands its long-term interests very well," he added.
Carlson stressed that his country faces serious problems related to the economy, national unity and immigration, and that what is required of American leaders is not to be preoccupied with Netanyahu's demands, but to be strong enough to reject the pressure.
He called on the United States to reject Israeli pressure in this context, responding to them by saying, "If you want to blow up the Iranian government, good luck, that's none of our business."
Carlson noted that some U.S. leaders are more loyal to Israel than to their own country.
He considered that this is the main problem in relations between Washington and Tel Aviv.
He sharply criticized a number of senators (the second chamber of Congress) known for their support of Israel, such as Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, for putting Israel's demands ahead of those of their constituents.
For weeks, the United States, at Israel's instigation, has been bolstering its military forces in the Middle East, threatening to take military action against Iran to force it to abandon its nuclear and missile programs and its "proxies in the region."
Tehran believes that Washington and Israel are creating pretexts for intervention and regime change in it, and it vows to respond to any military attack, even if it is limited, while insisting on lifting Western economic sanctions in exchange for imposing restrictions on its nuclear program.
Carlson's statement follows an interview with US Ambassador to Tel Aviv Mike Huckabee, excerpts of which were published by the Tucker Carlson Network on Friday.
In the interview, Huckabee said he did not see anything wrong with Israel taking over large parts of the Middle East, citing religious interpretations and claims of "a biblical right that extends from the Nile to the Euphrates."
The Committee on Churches Affairs in Palestine Responds to the US Ambassador's Remarks on Israel's Expansion in the Middle East
In a related matter, a Palestinian presidential committee considered that justifying the "Israeli occupation policies" with religious discourse is a "dangerous deviation" and warned against turning the political conflict into a "confrontation of a religious and ideological nature" that threatens international peace and stability.
This came in a statement by the Higher Presidential Committee for Churches Affairs in Palestine on Sunday, in response to televised statements by the US ambassador to Tel Aviv, Mike Huckabee, regarding the expansion of Israel's occupation in the Middle East.
"Justifying occupation policies or settlement expansion with religious rhetoric represents a serious moral and theological aberration, and contradicts international efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on ending the occupation, respecting peoples' rights and human dignity," she added.
The committee condemned "in the strongest terms" Huckabee's remarks, in which he claimed what he called Israel's "biblical right" to control the entire area "from the Nile to the Euphrates," in "a dangerous reliance on religious interpretations used to justify colonial and expansionist political projects."
In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, excerpts of which were published by the Tucker Carlson Network on Friday, Huckabee said he sees nothing wrong with Israel taking over the entire Middle East, citing religious interpretations and claims of "a biblical right that extends from the Nile to the Euphrates."
The committee stressed that this speech is not only contrary to the norms of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, but also "contradicts the essence of the Christian message and the teachings of the Bible itself."
She continued: "Religious texts are understood in their historical and theological context, and they should not be used to justify the exclusion of peoples or the confiscation of their national rights."
She promised that the claim of so-called "biblical truth" constitutes "an insult to religion and a distortion of its spiritual and moral message," and reflects an extension of "politicized theological currents linked to what is known as Christianity Zionism, which seeks to employ religious faith to serve political agendas at the expense of justice and human rights."
Such a proposal "contributes to turning the political conflict into a confrontation of a religious and ideological nature, which poses a direct threat to civil peace and regional and international stability, and increases the risks of fueling religious extremism and undermining the chances of peace", it said.
It warned that the denial of the rights of the Palestinian people "directly threatens the historic Palestinian Christian existence, undermines religious and cultural pluralism, and provides ideological cover for the policies of occupation, annexation and displacement that affect Muslims and Christians."
She stressed that the fate of Palestine is determined in accordance with the rules of international law and the resolutions of international legitimacy.
She called on the US administration to "make its position explicitly clear on these statements, in line with the principles of international law and the moral responsibility of political and religious leaders to avoid using religion in political disputes".
It also renewed its call on churches and Christians around the world to "listen to the voice of Palestinian Christians, as sons of this land and living witnesses to its history and faith, and to reject any theology that employs religion to justify injustice or perpetuate the reality of the occupation."
