Joe Kent’s resignation over Iran war raises concerns about anti-Semitism and debate about Israeli influence

It was no surprise that Joe Kent appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show the day after he left his counterterrorism job under President Donald Trump. Here was a senior official who resigned in protest against the war as Iran became the main critic of the conflict in right-wing media.

“The Israelis made the decision to take this action,” Kent said in the interview on Wednesday.

Read more: Who is Joe Kent, the counterterrorism official who resigned over the Iran war?

But it wasn’t long until the conversation moved in a different direction when Kent pointed out conspiracy theories that pro-Israel forces were behind the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“I would say there are unanswered questions,” Kent said.

The conversation summed up two divisions within the Republican Party and the right-wing media ecosystem, both of which have reached a high level in the Trump administration’s national security establishment.

There is a foreign policy debate about the wisdom of Trump’s war with Iran and the future of the United States’ long-standing alliance with Israel.

Read more: What does Joe Kent’s resignation say about US intelligence and counterterrorism efforts?

But there are also concerns that the focus on Israel is the leading edge of an anti-Semitic group that has gained ground by portraying Jews as shadowy manipulators, echoing some of the most hateful tropes in history.

Tucker Carlson plays center

At the heart of both issues is Carlson, a former Fox News host who remains highly influential among conservatives. He was previously condemned for hosting Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist and anti-Semite, on his podcast last year. During the interview, Fuentes complained about “organized Judaism in America.”

Carlson strongly criticized Israel on Wednesday, saying that “its pressure in the United States put pressure on the president.”

Matt Brooks, president of the Republican Jewish Coalition, called Kent’s appearance on Carlson’s podcast “part of an ongoing problem.”

He watches: The attack on a synagogue in Michigan highlights rising anti-Semitic violence

He noted that his group opposed Kent’s nomination for the position of director of the National Counterterrorism Center because of his ties to right-wing extremism. Trump dismissed these concerns even though, as he said after Kent’s resignation, “I always thought he was weak on security” and “I didn’t know him very well.”

Kent’s resignation speech trafficked in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories while raising concerns about war with Iran.

He blamed “high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media” for encouraging the conflict. In fact, Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, encouraged Trump to join forces in attacking Iran.

But Kent went further, saying this was “the same tactic the Israelis used to drag us into the disastrous Iraq war.” He also said that his wife, a Navy cryptographer who was killed by a suicide bomber in Syria, died “in a war created by Israel.”

Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, called the letter “vicious anti-Semitism.” “Scapegoating Israel is not just a hackneyed anti-Semitic trope — it is anti-American,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat.

Kent had previously rejected all forms of “racism and intolerance.”

Trump said nothing about Kent’s comments about Israel. He had previously cast doubt on the idea that Israel pushed him into war, saying: “I may have forced them into it.”

United Republican support for Israel has fractured

Questions about Israeli influence are not limited to right-wing circles. Progressives have also faced accusations of anti-Semitism over their response to the war in Gaza, which began with a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

But there has been a widening fault line within the Republican Party, which has served as a bedrock of support for Israel over the years. Conservatives are still weighing the ramifications of Carlson’s interview with Fuentes.

For example, board members and other staff resigned from the Heritage Foundation after the think tank’s president defended Carlson.

Trump has tried to avoid the issue, declining to criticize Fuentes and praising Carlson for “saying good things about me over the years.” The president had previously had dinner with Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, between his terms, and Carlson continued to visit the White House.

Mort Klein, president of the conservative Jewish group Zionist Organization of America, said Wednesday that he supports Trump but “I would like him to do more” on anti-Semitism.

“I want him to be stronger on these issues,” Klein said.

Carlson said he is not anti-Semitic. But he said that hatred against Jews was less widespread in society than prejudice against whites, and that some Christian politicians who were ardent supporters of Israel were guilty of heresy.

The division in Israel is raging in the right-wing media

The Iran war is expected to continue ripping right-wing media apart.

Ben Shapiro, co-founder of The Daily Wire, called Carlson’s interview with Fuentes “an act of moral folly” and accused the host of misleading his audience with lies and conspiracy theories.

He is also at odds with Candace Owens, who has promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. “I cannot think of anyone in public life who raises as much doubt about Jews, Zionism, and Israel as you do,” Dennis Prager, a conservative commentator, wrote in an open letter to Owens.

Megyn Kelly, a former Fox News anchor who now runs her own independent media empire, like Carlson, said the war was sold to the American people by “Israel First, like Mark Levin.” Levin, a radio and Fox personality, was among Trump’s most ardent supporters of the war.

For his part, Levin described Kelly as an “emotionally disturbed, lewd and petulant wreck.”

He promises to continue.

Levine posted on social media an invitation for Kent to appear on his program in the coming days.

“Sure,” Kent replied. “Let’s go.”