Tucker Carlson doubles down on claim that producers were inappropriately interrogated at Ben Gurion

The right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson doubles down on his claims that his staff was interrogated at Israel’s airport during a visit on Wednesday.

Carlson came to Israel to interview US Ambassador Mike Huckabee. Carlson did not leave the airport during the visit, but alleged that his producers were subject to hostile interrogation.

Huckabee and the Israel Airports Authority firmly rejected the claim.

Carlson releases his interview with Huckabee. During the introduction, he says Israeli officials held their passports and that his two producers were “called into rooms and given the third degree.”

The Mike Huckabee interview, and the truth about America’s deeply unhealthy relationship with Israel.

(0:00) Why We Were Interrogated in Israel
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— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 20, 2026

Carlson says security asked questions, including, “What did you say to the US ambassador? What did he say back to you? What are your politics like?”

“They’re doing like an intel op and humiliation exercise on my producer. This isn’t security,” he says.

“The interrogator is holding his passport in his hand as he’s asking these questions,” he says. “Some thug is demanding details of that conversation.”

“It’s a police state, it’s a surveillance state. You go to Israel, and they put software on your phone. Everybody knows this. They’re constantly spying on you,” he says. There is no evidence that Israel installs spy software on visitors’ phones.

It is standard for Israeli airport staff to ask visitors questions while viewing their passports.

Carlson says footage leaked to the media yesterday with the goal of discrediting his claim of mistreatment, was just him agreeing to his driver’s request to take a photo with him. It took place before his producers were detained, he says.

Carlson takes issue with Huckabee siding with the Israeli government in the debate over whether he was mistreated, without even checking with him, arguing that a US ambassador should first and foremost seek to serve the citizens of the country they represent.

He later claims that Israel knowingly bombed the USS Liberty in 1967, a common conspiracy theory on the right, claims Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened his family “because he believes in blood guilt,” and calls Israel “probably the most violent country on earth.”