"I don't think it was intended to be provocative. They saw the Turkish military moving at a level far further south than they were ever supposed to be," US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Al Arabiya in a Thursday interview, when speaking about Israel’s strikes on the Abu al-Duhur military airfield in the Idlib province in northwestern Syria on Tuesday.
"When Israel sees a military start to build up closer and closer to them, and that the leadership of the country has said, uh, we're going to rebuild the Ottoman Empire and take over Jerusalem. They take that seriously," he added, saying that he hopes for both countries to agree about using dialogue to solve these disputes in the future.
He also said that, although Erdogan's comment about taking over Jerusalem might not be "an imminent threat," Israel's actions can be seen as normal in a region like the Middle East, where tensions are high, and a fast reaction usually comes before an option to dialogue.
"Nobody wants to see an escalation of the tension, an escalation of violence. So, every effort is being made to try to temper down any of the activity. And I feel like we can get there," he continued.
'Hamas must disarm,' Huckabee insists
During the first segment of the interview, the ambassador was asked on repeated occasions about Israel's negative response to the 15-point plan agreed by the US, Hamas, and international mediators to disarm the terrorist group in Gaza.
He explained that, even if there was an agreement, the lack of action by Hamas was what was delaying the implementation, while the Israeli response was only focused on ensuring that Hamas would disarm before any Israeli troops would leave Gaza.
"Everyone, mostly Israel, would love to pull out of Gaza completely and get back to their own borders; they will only do so when it is safe for them to do it and make it so that their people are not vulnerable to another attack," Huckabee said.
He also addressed the rumors about a fight during the latest meeting between Israel and the US, calling it a "very good day" and adding, "I read press reports later that talked about there being disagreement and that there was even confrontation. And I'm thinking I was in the room the entire time. I missed that."
Saudi, Pakistan, Turkey agreement is not a threat
Huckabee also said the agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey didn't threaten the region and was a welcome development if it helped bring stability.
"I think that those three countries believe it will be helpful to them to band together for security purposes. So, I don't see it having a destabilizing impact," he said.
He described how the three countries were affected by the latest war, with Saudi Arabia now caught in a new round of fighting with the Houthis in Yemen.
"So having allies, whether it's Turkey, Pakistan, or anyone else in the region, I'm sure that they welcome that, and let's hope that it doesn't have to become a regional conflict again," he explained.
He also talked about the possibility of pushing for a "tailor-made" agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia that would be set outside the Abraham Accords, pointing out that "anything that brings a greater level of cooperation toward normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. You know who would welcome it the most? Israel would."
Huckabee condemns settler violence in West Bank
Earlier on Thursday, Huckabee warned extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank not to steal property owned by Palestinian Americans, describing such behavior as "a violation of God's law."
Huckabee, a Baptist minister and longtime supporter of Israel's settlements, told Reuters in an interview that settlers found to have taken part in a siege of homes in the West Bank village of Kusra, including one belonging to Palestinian American Loui Ridi, could be punished with US sanctions.
Israeli settlers began encircling homes in Kusra on August 9, in what rights groups said was an attempt to seize privately owned Palestinian land. The case has drawn international condemnation.
Israel's military has deployed dozens of troops to the area and has since pushed the settlers back from the homes. But they remain nearby, and residents, including Ridi, say they fear the settlers will encroach on their properties again once those troops pull back.
Asked what message US President Donald Trump's administration had for settlers considering taking homes or land in the West Bank owned by Palestinian Americans, Huckabee, who last week denounced the perpetrators as "Israeli terrorists," referred to Jewish and Christian scripture.
"I think the message is bigger than just even the Trump administration. It's a message of basic civility and civilized behavior," Huckabee told Reuters in Jerusalem.
"You don't take something that doesn't belong to you."
'Though shalt not steal,' Huckabee tells settlers
US officials have estimated that tens of thousands of Palestinian Americans live in the West Bank, many of them in a cluster of villages between Ramallah and Nablus, where Kusra lies.
Ridi, speaking to Reuters from his home in Kusra on Thursday, said he was in contact with Huckabee's staff at the US embassy in Jerusalem but that he continued to be harassed by Israeli settlers near his property.
Citing the Ten Commandments, Huckabee said: "Thou shalt not steal" and that people should neither take nor "covet" - or "desire" - what belongs to others.
"If someone owns the land and they own their house, then having someone come and take it over and scare the family away from it, that's a violation, not just of man's law. That's a violation of God's law," said Huckabee, a Republican former governor of the US state of Arkansas.
Huckabee is the first evangelical Christian to serve as US ambassador to Israel. He has long supported Israeli settlements in the West Bank and refers to the territory by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria, a term used by the Israeli government but not adopted by the US government.
Offering a defense of settlements in general, he said he believed violent settlers were a minority who do not represent the wider settlement community, who he said "just want to raise their families in Judea and Samaria peacefully and with a level of security."
Palestinians and their supporters reject this argument, saying the settlements eat up territory they want for an independent state. UN bodies and most countries consider Israel's settlements to be illegal under international law. Israel disputes this.
US 'appalled' by what happened in Kusra
The ambassador said the US was "appalled" by what had happened in Kusra. The Palestinian families targeted by Israeli settlers were victims of "inexcusable and repugnant" criminal activity, and those settlers found to have taken part should face significant consequences in Israel, he said.
Huckabee also said that anyone found to be involved could also face US sanctions, such as a ban on entering the US, although he said he was not aware that any such measures were under consideration.
Israeli police have not announced any arrests or charges against any settler allegedly involved in besieging the Palestinian homes, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly commented on the incident. A senior settler leader has, however, condemned the actions of the settlers.