Rubio tells US envoys to avoid inflammatory comments after Huckabee fracas — report

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reportedly warned American ambassadors around the world to refrain from making comments that could “inflame regional audiences” following Arab and Muslim backlash to comments by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

In an interview with right-wing journalist Tucker Carlson that was published on February 20, Huckabee suggested that, while Israel had no current plans to do so, “it would be fine” for it to take over large swaths of the Middle East, since the Jewish people had a biblical right to the land.

According to the Guardian, Rubio said in an unclassified February 23 memo to US ambassadors around the world that “given rising tensions in the region, Chiefs of Mission and embassies at addressee posts must refrain from public statements, interviews, or social media activity that could in any way inflame regional audiences, prejudice sensitive political issues, or complicate US relationships.”

“Chiefs of Mission are expected to avoid all commentary on issues that could heighten tensions or create confusion about US policy. Discipline in public messaging is essential, especially at this time,” the Guardian quoted the memo as saying.

According to the UK newspaper, which said it obtained a copy of the memo, the document did not single out Huckabee, but was widely interpreted as a rebuke to him amid concern his comments could weaken the US position in the faceoff with Iran.

Huckabee, who also served as Arkansas governor and is an outspokenly Zionist Baptist minister, has long supported Israel’s West Bank settlements, which most of the world considers illegal, including the US until Trump’s first term in 2019.

On Friday, the US embassy under Huckabee opened its first-ever pop-up consular service in an Israeli settlement, Efrat, after Arab and Muslim nations slammed the plan to do so, saying it signified US endorsement of Israeli designs to annex the West Bank.