Bill White, the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, sparked an international incident of sorts when he accused Belgian officials of antisemitism via social media. At issue was a local investigation into a few Jewish mohels performing circumcisions without proper medical training, which prompted White to post about what he referred to as “RIDICULOUS AND ANTI SEMITIC ‘PROSECUTION.’”

Belgium’s government was not pleased — and it summoned the U.S. ambassador for an official conversation last week.

Days later, France announced that it, too, would summon its U.S. ambassador, Charles Kushner, after the State Department made provocative comments about Quentin Deranque, a far-right activist who died of brain injuries last week from a beating in the French city of Lyon.

(Update: Shortly after this piece was published, Reuters reported that Kushner has been “banned from meeting members of the French government” after failing to show up at the Foreign Affairs ministry for a scheduled meeting.)

But in between developments in Brussels and Paris, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee sparked an even more serious controversy. The New York Times reported:

Remarks by Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, prompted a storm of condemnation from Arab leaders over the weekend after he suggested that it ‘would be fine’ if Israel took lands stretching across the Middle East from Egypt to Iraq.

Mr. Huckabee, an evangelical Christian and a staunch supporter of Israel, made the comments during a two-hour interview with the provocative right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson, which aired on Friday.

To put it mildly, many in the region were not impressed. Politico reported that the backlash included public criticism from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry described Huckabee’s comment as “extremist rhetoric” and “unacceptable,” while Egypt’s foreign ministry called the remark a “blatant violation” of international law. The League of Arab States added, “Statements of this nature — extremist and lacking any sound basis — serve only to inflame sentiments and stir religious and national emotions.”

Over the weekend, Huckabee tried to walk back his comments, insisting that he was taken out of context. In the same interview, the ambassador, who previously served as governor of Arkansas, said Israel isn’t trying to “take all of that,” though he added, “[T]hey are asking to at least take the land that they now occupy, they now live in, they now own legitimately, and it is a safe haven for them.”

Time will tell whether his clarification addresses the concerns of officials in the region, although the uproar served as a reminder that Trump’s diplomats could stand to be more … diplomatic.

UPDATE (February 23, 2025, 3:43 p.m. ET): This post has been updated to reflect the latest reporting on Kushner and the French government.