LONDON, February 19. /TASS/. US journalist Tucker Carlson was questioned upon his departure from Israel, where he had come to record an interview with US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, according to the former Fox News host’s remarks to the Daily Mail.

"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," the former Fox News host said. "It was bizarre. We’re now out of the country," he added.

The newspaper notes that, as one of the most popular conservative commentators, Carlson often criticizes Israel for its operations in the Gaza Strip. The publication cites sources saying that the Israeli government initially did not want to allow the journalist to enter the country, and that negotiations on this issue were conducted with the US State Department.

Meanwhile, the US Embassy denies that Carlson was detained. According to a statement from the diplomatic mission quoted by the Daily Mail, he "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."

The embassy also denied reports that the Israeli government had refused to allow the film crew to enter the country. They explained that the only contact with the Israeli leadership on this matter concerned the arrival of the private plane carrying the journalists to the Middle Eastern country, and that Carlson himself had decided to spend only a few hours there.