Radio host Mark Levin finally spoke with former counterterrorism director Joe Kent on Monday, after a week of criticizing his resignation letter, in which Kent said the timing of the war with Iran was dictated by Israel’s decision to launch an attack, and Iran “posed no imminent threat” to the U.S. “The Israelis launched the attack, and we knew the Iranians would counterattack. The only imminent attack was actually the Israelis launching the attack. So that’s what got us into this,” Kent said. “I don’t think a foreign government should be allowed to dictate when we go to war.” “I have no problem with us working with Israel. I have a problem with Israel driving our foreign policy in the Middle East, as they have done,” he said. “Initially, the Secretary of State, the Speaker of the House, the Secretary of Defense-they all said we had to attack because the Israelis were going to attack. From my vantage point, that’s what I saw as well.” Mark Levin shot back: “Did the intelligence agencies miss 9/11, or was that the Israelis too? Did they miss Pearl Harbor, or was that the Israelis too?”

JOE KENT: As Secretary Rubio said, there was no imminent threat coming from Iran against Americans. MARK LEVIN: He corrected that. JOE KENT: There was an imminent threat coming from the Israelis, who were going to attack [Iran]. MARK LEVIN: Hold on, hold on. We’re going to do it honestly. One point at a time. JOE KENT: The Iranians had observed an escalation ladder. They hadn’t attacked us under President Trump. MARK LEVIN: Can you do me a favor, and I don’t mean to be rude. Can you talk a little more slowly? I’m having trouble hearing. Take your time. JOE KENT: Sure. When President Trump came into office, the Iranians knew that President Trump wanted to get a deal. They observed the escalatory ladder very carefully. They stopped having their proxies attack us like they were attacking us under the Biden administration, and they got to the negotiating table with us about the nuclear agenda. When the 12 Day War kicked off, and the Israelis started that, the Iranians still didn’t attack us. MARK LEVIN: Alright, alright. We have to take a break. … MARK LEVIN: I don’ care for what you’ve done. When you issued that letter, you knew it would do maximum damage to the president, didn’t you? The timing. For instance, if you were going to resign because you didn’t agree with this war, why didn’t you resign when the war started? JOE KENT: Because I was hoping that we would immediately de-escalate and try to get back to the negotiating table. MARK LEVIN: Start a war and deescalate in three days? When has that ever happened? JOE KENT: I was hoping that we were going to do limited strikes, like we did in Midnight Hammer, and then back off and go back to the negotiating table. Once I realized that was not going to happen, and we were spiraling deeper into this, and we were starting to lose brave men and women in yet another Middle Eastern war driven by the Israeli agenda, that’s what led me to-man, you’ve got a real duty to make it public. MARK LEVIN: You’ve got a real hate on, brother. Hold on, hold on. Joe, when I had you on my show, I read your texts-I read them out loud-and you’ve done a 180. Why is that? Because you had access to intelligence or something? Why have you changed completely? JOE KENT: I have not done a 180. I have no problem with us working with Israel. I have a problem with Israel driving our foreign policy in the Middle East, as they have done. MARK LEVIN: Do you have no respect for Donald Trump’s agency-that he has the capacity to make these decisions himself? JOE KENT: I have the utmost respect for the president. You can read my letter. MARK LEVIN: You didn’t answer my question. You don’t sound like it. JOE KENT: I believe that he was influenced by the media echo chamber and by the Israelis using their ability- MARK LEVIN: Well, maybe he’s influenced by your media echo chamber. Or maybe he’s influenced by the Saudis and the Qataris-who knows? He made a decision. Can’t you accept the fact that he’s a great president, that he took in all this information, he listened to all his advisers, and he made a decision? You may disagree with it, but why do you create a conspiratorial notion that Israel-nine and a half million people, a tiny economy-dragged powerful Donald Trump and the United States into war? You even have them dragging us into the Iraq war, when on the record they said they didn’t want to do the Iraq war. They opposed us doing it. Where’d you come up with that one? JOE KENT: In this administration, I watched the Israeli media echo chamber. I watched that. MARK LEVIN: Well, no- JOE KENT: I came in day one, and I worked as the DNI’s chief of staff until I was confirmed. So I- MARK LEVIN: By the way, does Tulsi Gabbard agree with you? JOE KENT: You’d have to ask her. I’m not going to speak for Tulsi Gabbard. What I’m telling you is- MARK LEVIN: You said he was convinced by Israel. JOE KENT: No, I’m speaking for Joe Kent. That’s why I resigned, so I could speak freely. What I saw was the red line move from no nukes to no enrichment. That basically short-circuited the ability for there to be a deal, leading us to a military conflict that was driven by Israel. MARK LEVIN: What does that mean? Slow down, Joe. What does that mean-no nukes to nuclear enrichment? What does that mean? JOE KENT: That’s a great question. President Trump has always said-and I think most people agree-that Iran can’t get a nuclear bomb. Now, the former Supreme Leader agreed and had that in place- MARK LEVIN: That’s where you and I disagree. The guy has a fatwa in place and slaughters 50,000 of his own people. He’s a terrorist. JOE KENT: Mark, I believe the 18 intelligence agencies that said Iran was not developing- MARK LEVIN: But guess what? The president agrees with his own conclusions-that is, that you’re wrong. Mr. Radcliffe believes you’re wrong. The Secretary of Defense believes you’re wrong. The Secretary of State believes you’re wrong. I can go right down the list. By the way, name the 18 intelligence agencies that agree with you, Joe. I don’t even know what they are. JOE KENT: The intelligence community of the United States-most people can look those up. MARK LEVIN: The president said he decided to take these steps because the Iranians weren’t negotiating in good faith. His envoys come back to him and say they just told us they have all this nuclear material and they’re not going to give it up or hand it to a third party. And you say it was Israel-explain. JOE KENT: The Israelis launched the attack, and we knew the Iranians would counterattack. The only imminent attack was actually the Israelis launching the attack. So that’s what got us into this. MARK LEVIN: That’s been denied, Joe. Hold on. The president of the United States said that’s okay-he dragged the Israelis in. JOE KENT: Right. Initially, the Secretary of State, the Speaker of the House, the Secretary of Defense-they all said we had to attack because the Israelis were going to attack. From my vantage point, that’s what I saw as well. MARK LEVIN: So they’re all lying now? JOE KENT: What I saw was the Israelis driving this because they wanted a regime-change war. They wanted to force our hand-to make us attack Iran, to provoke an Iranian counterattack so that we would be in the conflict. MARK LEVIN: I think you’re extremely conspiratorial. I think you’re ignoring what all the other senior officials and the president have said. I really do. And I hope when you tell me you haven’t leaked-because all these people in the White House say you have-that you’re telling me the truth. I hope when you tell me you didn’t leak those texts to Candace Owens, you’re telling me the truth. I hope when you say 18 intelligence agencies concluded Iran is not close to getting nukes, you’re telling me the truth. JOE KENT: We have public testimony in Congress- MARK LEVIN: From the CIA director, who says you’re full of baloney. He represents the intelligence community. He’s the big dog. JOE KENT: The agencies contributed to that assessment. MARK LEVIN: Who makes the final decision? You or the president? JOE KENT: The president does. But in this case- MARK LEVIN: Did the intelligence agencies miss 9/11, or was that the Israelis too? Did they miss Pearl Harbor, or was that the Israelis too? I’m really worried about you, brother. I really am. When you were first on my show, you seemed pretty straightforward and sane about this stuff. JOE KENT: I am pretty straightforward. I don’t think a foreign government should be allowed to dictate when we go to war. MARK LEVIN: I don’t think they did. I think the president made the decision. You keep mentioning Israelis-it’s getting very boring and silly. The president made the decision.

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