(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Conservative news commentator Tucker Carlson told the Daily Mail on Wednesday that he and his staff were “detained” in Israel after they interviewed America’s ambassador to that country, Mike Huckabee.
“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, an outspoken critic of Israel, told the Daily Mail. “It was bizarre. We’re now out of the country.”
The Daily Mail cited two sources who said that the Israeli government didn’t want to allow Carlson into the country in the first place. A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Israel denied that he was detained, stating that Carlson “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.”
Greetings from Israel. pic.twitter.com/1uBWvqBNST
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 18, 2026
“It is not accurate that Israel only was going to let Tucker into the country for the interview,” the spokesperson reportedly 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.”
Carlson’s interview with Huckabee has yet to be released.
Israel’s government, including Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli, has accused Tucker Carlson of receiving payment from Qatar to promote anti-Israel content. However, Chikli has admitted they don’t have proof of this.
Carlson has also come under fire from pro-Israel conservatives at home. For instance, there were widespread calls for Carlson to be “canceled” after he interviewed right-wing streamer Nick Fuentes.
Trump has defended Carlson, saying the former Fox News host has “said good things about me over the years.” He said if Carlson wants to interview Fuentes, whose followers see themselves as working to preserve America’s white, Christian identity, then “people have to decide.”
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
