{"id":26210,"date":"2026-03-19T07:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T07:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/26210\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T07:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T07:09:11","slug":"joe-kents-resignation-over-iran-war-reignites-antisemitism-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/26210\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Kent’s resignation over Iran war reignites antisemitism fears"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was no surprise when Joe Kent showed up on Tucker Carlson\u2019s podcast a day after quitting his counterterrorism job in President Donald Trump\u2019s administration. Here was a top official who resigned to protest the war<\/a> with Iran turning to right-wing media\u2019s leading critic of the conflict.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Israelis drove the decision to take this action,\u201d Kent said in Wednesday\u2019s interview.<\/a><\/p>\n

But before long, the conversation moved in a different direction as Kent nodded to conspiracy theories that pro-Israel forces were behind the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m saying there are unanswered questions,\u201d Kent said.<\/p>\n

The conversation encapsulated two schisms within the Republican Party and the right-wing media system, both of which have reached high into the national security establishment of the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a foreign policy debate over the wisdom of Trump\u2019s war with Iran<\/a> and the future of United States\u2019 longstanding alliance with Israel. <\/p>\n

But there also are fears that the focus on Israel is the leading edge of an antisemitic fringe that has gained ground by portraying Jews as shadowy manipulators, echoing some of history\u2019s most hateful tropes. <\/p>\n

Tucker Carlson is playing a central role<\/p>\n

At the center of both issues is Carlson, a former Fox News host who remains influential among conservatives. He was previously denounced for hosting Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist and antisemite, on his podcast last year. During the interview, Fuentes complained about \u201corganized Jewry in America.\u201d <\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Carlson was sharply critical about Israel, saying \u201cits lobbying in the United States pressured the president.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt Brooks, president of the Republican Jewish Coalition<\/a>, described Kent\u2019s appearance on Carlson\u2019s podcast as \u201cpart of an ongoing problem.\u201d <\/p>\n

He noted that his group opposed Kent\u2019s nomination as director of the National Counterterrorism Center because of ties to right-wing extremism. Trump ignored those concerns even though, as he said after Kent\u2019s resignation, \u201cI always thought he was weak on security\u201d and \u201cI didn\u2019t know him well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kent\u2019s resignation letter trafficked in antisemitic conspiracy theories while raising concerns about the war with Iran. <\/p>\n

He blamed \u201chigh-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media\u201d for encouraging conflict. Indeed, Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu encouraged Trump to join forces in an attack on Iran.<\/p>\n

But Kent also went further, saying it\u2019s \u201cthe same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war.\u201d He also said his wife, a Navy cryptologist who was killed by a suicide bomber in Syria, died \u201cin a war manufactured by Israel.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, described the letter as \u201cvirulent antisemitism.\u201d Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, said \u201cscapegoating Israel isn\u2019t just a tired antisemitic trope \u2014 it\u2019s anti-American.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kent has previously rejected all forms of \u201cracism and bigotry.\u201d <\/p>\n

Trump has said nothing about Kent\u2019s remarks on Israel. He\u2019s previously disputed the idea that Israel pushed him toward war, saying \u201cI might might have forced their hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unified Republican support for Israel has fractured<\/p>\n

Questions about Israeli influence are not unique to right-wing circles. Progressives have also faced accusations of antisemitism for their response to the war in Gaza, which began with an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s been a widening fault line within the Republican Party, which has been a bedrock of support for Israel over the years. Conservatives are still reckoning with the fallout from Carlson\u2019s interview with Fuentes.<\/p>\n

For example, board members and other staff resigned from the Heritage Foundation after the think tank\u2019s president defended Carlson. <\/p>\n

Trump tried to sidestep the issue, declining to criticize Fuentes<\/a> and praising Carlson for having \u201csaid good things about me over the years.\u201d The president previously dined with Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago in between his two terms, and Carlson has continued to visit the White House. <\/p>\n

Mort Klein, president of the conservative Jewish Group Zionists for America, said Wednesday that he supports Trump but \u201cI\u2019d like him to do more\u201d about antisemitism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want him to be stronger on those issues,\u201d Klein said.<\/p>\n

Carlson has said that he is not antisemitic. But he has said anti-Jewish hate is less pervasive in society than bias against white people, and that some Christian politicians who were fervent supporters of Israel, such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, were guilty of heresy. <\/p>\n

Israel divide simmers in right-wing media<\/p>\n

The Iran war is poised to continue fracturing right-wing media. <\/p>\n

Ben Shapiro, co-founder of The Daily Wire, called Carlson\u2019s Fuentes interview \u201can act of moral imbecility\u201d and accused the host of misleading his audience with falsehoods and conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also feuded with Candace Owens, who has promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories. Dennis Prager, a conservative commentator, wrote in an open letter to Owens that \u201cI cannot think of anyone in public life engendering as much suspicion of Jews, Zionism and Israel as you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Megyn Kelly, like Carlson a former Fox News Channel anchor now helming her own independent media empire, said the war was sold to the American people by \u201cIsrael firsters, like Mark Levin.\u201d Levin, a radio and Fox personality, has been among Trump\u2019s most fervent supporters of the war.<\/p>\n

Levin, for his part, called Kelly an \u201cemotionally unhinged, lewd and petulant wreck.\u201d<\/p>\n

It promises to continue.<\/p>\n

Levin posted on social media an invitation to Kent to appear on his show in the coming days.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure,\u201d Kent replied. \u201cLet\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was no surprise when Joe Kent showed up on Tucker Carlson\u2019s podcast a day after quitting his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2492,12455,41,12460,12457,2306,10278,6940,12456,38,2093,197,34,196,37,199,11467,12462,12454,12459,324,12461,12453,81,1372,7338,12458,7236,3717,1865,771,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-26210","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran","8":"tag-antisemitism","9":"tag-ben-shapiro","10":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","11":"tag-candace-owens","12":"tag-charlie-kirk","13":"tag-conservatism","14":"tag-conspiracy-theories","15":"tag-counterterrorism","16":"tag-dennis-prager","17":"tag-donald-trump","18":"tag-entertainment","19":"tag-general-news","20":"tag-iran","21":"tag-iran-war","22":"tag-israel","23":"tag-israel-government","24":"tag-joe-kent","25":"tag-joshua-gottheimer","26":"tag-mark-levin","27":"tag-matt-brooks","28":"tag-mideast-wars","29":"tag-mitch-mcconnell","30":"tag-nick-fuentes","31":"tag-politics","32":"tag-president","33":"tag-race-and-ethnicity","34":"tag-racism","35":"tag-ted-cruz","36":"tag-tucker-carlson","37":"tag-u-s-republican-party","38":"tag-washington-news","39":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}