| THE LIE The Torah itself invalidates the Jewish people’s biblical claim to the Land of Israel. |
| THE TRUTH The Torah explicitly affirms the Jewish people’s biblical claim to the Land of Israel, defining clear borders that were promised, conquered, and settled. |
| BACKGROUND On February 20, 2026, Tucker Carlson asked U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee whether the Jewish people have a biblical claim to most of the Levant.He cited Genesis 15:18, in which God grants Abraham’s descendants territory stretching “from the river of Egypt (the Nile) to the great river, the Euphrates.” Tucker’s implication was that if Genesis 15 defines Israel’s borders, Israel must claim vast swaths of the Middle East. Otherwise, the verse should not be taken literally — and neither should the Jewish people’s claim to Israel. |
| TRUTH EXPLAINED Tucker’s framing ignores the rest of the Torah, which defines specific, limited borders and the land actually settled and conquered by Israel, showing that the biblical Promised Land is far smaller and far more precise than Genesis 15. (Rabbi Pesach Wolicki) In Exodus 13:17–18, the Israelites leave Egypt and enter the wilderness, already geographically “between the Nile and the Euphrates.” Yet the text is clear that they are not yet in the Promised Land. (Exodus 13) At the end of Numbers, the Israelites camp east of the Jordan. Moses rebukes Reuben and Gad for wanting to settle there instead of crossing into “the land which the Lord has given them,” even though they were already within the geographical region between the Nile and the Euphrates. (Numbers 32) In Deuteronomy, Moses stands on the eastern bank of the Jordan, within the geographic span between the Nile and the Euphrates. God tells him he may look at the land but he may not enter it, confirming that Moses was not within the territory of the Promised Land. (Deuteronomy 34) Numbers 34:1–12 provides the most detailed biblical borders: mostly modern Israel, Judea and Samaria, Gaza, parts of southern Lebanon, northern Jordan, and the northeastern Negev. It does not include Egypt, most of Jordan, Syria, Iraq, or the Euphrates basin. (Numbers 34) In the Book of Joshua, the Israelites’ actual conquests cover modern Israel, Gaza, the northern Negev, Judea and Samaria, the Galilee, and parts of northern Jordan —far short of the “Nile to Euphrates” promise of Genesis 15. (The Interactive Bible) Even after God reminds Joshua that additional lands remain to be conquered —including the southern coastal plain, Philistine cities, northeastern Sinai, northern Lebanon, and southwestern Syria—the eastern and northern borders stop well short of the Nile and the Euphrates, showing that the Promised Land in practice was well-defined and closer to the borders of modern Israel. (Joshua 13) |
| QUOTES“ Your southernmost corner shall be from the desert of Zin along Edom, and the southern border shall be from the edge of the Sea of Salt [the Dead Sea] to the east. The border then turns south of Maaleh Akrabim [elevation of Akrabim], passing toward Zin, and its ends shall be to the south of Kadesh barnea. Then it shall extend to Hazar addar and continue toward Azmon. The border then turns from Azmon to the stream of Egypt, and its ends shall be to the sea. The western border: it shall be for you the Great [Mediterranean] Sea and the border this shall be your western border. This shall be your northern border: From the Great [Mediterranean] Sea turn yourselves toward Mount Hor. From Mount Hor turn to the entrance of Hamath, and the ends of the border shall be toward Zedad. The border shall then extend to Ziphron, and its ends shall be Hazar enan; this shall be your northern border. You shall then turn yourselves toward the eastern border, from Hazar enan to Shepham. The border descends from Shepham toward Riblah, to the east of Ain. Then the border descends and hits the eastern shore of Lake Kinnereth. The border then continues down along the Jordan, and its ends is the Sea of Salt [the Dead Sea]; this shall be your Land according to its borders around.” (Numbers 34:3-12) |
| TAKEAWAY Tucker Carlson’s claim relies on cherry-picking a single verse in Genesis while ignoring the rest of the Torah that clearly defines Israel’s borders. By focusing on the “Nile to Euphrates” language, he twists scripture to fit his anti-Israel obsession, overlooking the precise, achievable land God promised to the Jewish people. |
