Tucker Carlson was never detained at the Israeli airport, according to Israeli authorities.
A spokesperson for the US embassy in Israel told The Daily Mail that Carlson’s claims were inaccurate and that he had only received the standard passport-control questions.
Tucker Carlson told The Daily Mail he was grilled and detained.
“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 discussed with Ambassador Huckabee,” Carlson stated in his interview with The Daily Mail.
The report indicated that the government initially planned to deny Carlson entry into the country, but ultimately allowed it after negotiations with the team of US Ambassador Mike Huckabee.
A spokesperson for the US Embassy in Israel told The Daily Mail that Carlson’s only received the same passport-control questions that many visitors to Israel encounter.
Carlson never even left Ben-Gurion Airport during his visit and conducted the interview with Huckabee there.
He departed Israel around 3 p.m., concluding a trip that lasted only a few hours.
Wow. Tucker is such a liar & a shameless propagandist. He fed a fake story of being “detained” to one of friends at the Daily Mail, meanwhile this is him on airport security footage looking like a total happy camper smh https://t.co/oYkfPN49om
— Melissa Tate (@TheRightMelissa) February 19, 2026
Tucker countered the allegations, but it is clear he really hates Israel. Ambassador Huckabee said the questioning in the lounge and the procedures were normal.
NEW 🇺🇸🇮🇱: Tucker Carlson Shares the Full Story of How His Team was DETAINED by Israeli Security
“If you’re an American in Israel, you can be certain that your government will take the side of the Israeli government and not your side.” https://t.co/8DD3jx7yGS pic.twitter.com/wX5fY7wq7L
— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) February 20, 2026
What happened to Tucker? He was a hero to me, and now I simply cannot understand what he is saying and doing.
Interesting – Israel is the most violent country in the world? and Iran just murdered how many of it’s citizens?
I think Carlson is telling the truth. He has nothing to gain by lying, but the powers that be want to discredit him bc he’s not totally for Israel.
Believe it, it’s true!
I gave your post a negative rating for the ridiculous postulation that Tucker (and by implication others) have noth9i8ng to gain by lying. Sorry, people lie all the time to gain things of which we may not even be aware. Wake up to the real world.