Tulsi Gabbard says she’s concerned Joe Kent blames Israel for Iran war

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard said Thursday she was concerned former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) Joe Kent blamed Israel for allegedly dragging U.S. into the Iran War.

During the House Intelligence Committee hearing, Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik read from Kent’s letter, including a portion where he alleged the U.S. was engaged in a conflict with Iran due to Israeli influence. She specifically asked whether Gabbard agreed or disagreed with Kent’s letter, but the DNI declined to take a stance, but did admit she was concerned with Kent’s position on alleged Israeli influence on the U.S.’ decision to go to war with Iran.

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“He said a lot of things in that letter. Ultimately, we have provided the president with the intelligence assessments, and the president is elected by the American people and makes his own decisions based on the information that’s available to him,” Gabbard said.

Stefanik followed up by asking whether Kent’s blame of Israel concerned her.

“Yes,” Gabbard replied.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Mar. 2 that Trump’s administration knew Israel would attack Iran, which would cause the Islamic Republic to attack the United States.

Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe suggested that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States because of a probable impending conflict between Israel and the Islamic Republic during a Thursday hearing, before quickly backtracking.

Kent posted his resignation letter to X Tuesday, which also asserted Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the U.S. Gabbard issued a statement on the platform just hours after, where she said President Donald Trump was “responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat.”

While the DNI said her office was “responsible for helping coordinate and integrate all intelligence to provide the President and Commander in Chief with the best information available to inform his decisions,” she did not take a stance on whether evidence showed Iran posed an imminent threat.

“After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion,” she wrote.

Gabbard also did not address Kent’s comments pertaining to Israel in her statement.

Moreover, Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff pressed Gabbard during a Wednesday hearing on whether the Intelligence Community (IC) assessed that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States. However, she declined to answer, asserting Trump was the sole individual empowered to make such a determination.

“It is precisely your responsibility to determine what constitutes a threat to the United States. This is the worldwide threats hearing where, as you noted in your opening testimony, quote, you represent the IC’s assessment of threats,” Ossoff told Gabbard. “You are here to represent the IC’s assessment of threats. That’s a quote from your own opening statement.”

Gabbard previously expressed opposition to a U.S. war with Iran.

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