U.S. says ambassador's comments on Israel and the Middle East were taken out of context

An uproar continued Sunday after the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said Israel has a right to much of the Middle East, as more Arab and Muslim countries objected and the U.S. said his comments were taken out of context. In the interview, Huckabee added: “They’re not asking to go back and take all of that, but they 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.” He added that Israel isn’t trying to take over Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, or Iraq but is trying to protect its own people. The movements of additional U.S. warships and airplanes to the region, with the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, don’t guarantee a U.S. strike on Iran, but they bolster Trump’s ability to carry out one if he chooses.