Tucker Carlson alleges mistreatment & detention by Israeli officials after spending several hours in Ben Gurion Airport for Huckabee interview

Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News anchor who has drawn flak for his ferocious anti-Israel activism in recent months, added more controversy on Wednesday by claiming Israeli officials detained him before his departure, which was denied by the Airport Authority and the U.S. embassy.

Carlson spent only several hours on Israeli soil to interview U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, whom he has often singled out for criticism. Media outlets reported that the conversation, which hasn’t been released yet, focused on Carlson’s false claims regarding the treatment of Christians in Israel, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The visit followed a public exchange of blows between Carlson and Huckabee, after Carlson published an interview with Arab Christians titled “Christian Persecution”, which was filmed in Israel and harshly criticized its alleged maltreatment of Christians, as well as its ostensible defenders, like Huckabee.

Carlson refused to leave Ben Gurion Airport, conducting the interview on airport grounds before claiming he was detained and questioned ahead of his departure.

Carlson told the Daily Mail that his passport was confiscated by Israeli officials following the sit-down with 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 told the British newspaper. 

“It was bizarre. We’re now out of the country,” he added. After landing, Carlson had published a picture of himself and his business partner, Neil Patel,  in front of Israeli flags with the caption: “Greetings from Israel.”

Israeli Airports Authority:
Contrary to the reports, Tucker Carlson and his entourage were not detained, delayed, or interrogated.
Mr. Carlson and his party were politely asked a few routine questions, in accordance with standard procedures applied to many travelers.
The…

— Oren Marmorstein (@OrenMarmorstein) February 18, 2026

Several people on X pointed out that the picture was taken in the airport’s area for private jets. “Tucker flew private into the VIP terminal where, yes, they take your passport and do all of the passport control stuff for you and you can go get a drink at the bar. I know this not bc I have ever flown private, but because I have interviewed foreign dignitaries there,” commented Lahav Harkov, Senior Political Correspondent at the Jewish Insider.

The Airport Authority and the U.S. Embassy strongly denied Carlson’s claims of mistreatment, noting that this was standard procedure.

“Tucker Carlson and his entourage were not detained, delayed, or interrogated,” the Israel Airport Authority said in a statement.

“Mr. Carlson and his party were politely asked a few routine questions, in accordance with standard procedures applied to many travelers. The conversation took place in a separate room within the VIP lounge solely to protect their privacy and to avoid conducting such a discussion in public. No unusual incident occurred, and the Israel Airports Authority firmly rejects any other claims.”

A spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Israel affirmed 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.”

“It is not accurate that Israel was only going to let Tucker into the country for the interview,” he 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.”

“EVERYONE who comes in/out of Israel (every country for that matter) has passports checked & routinely asked security questions. Even ME going in/out with Diplomatic Passport & Diplomatic Visa,” Huckabee later noted on X.

Former U.S. Ambassador David Friedman commented, “Too bad Tucker stayed in the airport in the face of so many invitations to see so many wonderful places. A huge and obviously intentional missed opportunity.”

Ahead of Carlson’s visit, Channel 13 had reported that Israeli officials deliberated whether to allow him into the country, in light of his consistent and biased attacks against Israel in nearly every one of the interview episodes he published on his X channel.

Channel 13 reported that it was decided to allow him to enter to avert a potential “diplomatic incident.” However, the Daily Mail cited two sources who claimed that Carlson’s refusal to leave the airport was caused by the Israeli government’s opposition, leading to negotiations with the State Department that resulted in the airport sitdown.

Melissa Francis, another former Fox News anchor, told the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump himself had been behind the effort to have two of his most prominent supporters meet in a face-to-face interview to “turn down the temperature.”

“Everybody’s looking for a way to turn down the temperature,” Francis said. “President Trump is telling everyone, including Tucker, ‘Let’s take this down’.”