President Donald Trump’s former counterterrorism chief is urging the President to restrict U.S. military support to Israel, warning that, unless restrained, Israel could sabotage the tentative two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.
Joe Kent, who resigned his position as National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) director March 17, made the remarks April 7 in a video posted to X.
"It's absolutely essential that we ensure the Israelis do not sabotage this two-week ceasefire or eventually the lasting peace that we're trying to achieve with the Iranians," Kent said in the video. “The last thing we need is the Israelis doing what they have done in past negotiations and targeting the negotiators, or taking a series of strikes that escalates the conflict.”
"They have a very bad track record of adhering to these deals,” he said.
Kent said the U.S. is now "on the cusp" of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy markets. According to Kent, an Israeli escalation could undo that progress.
To prevent Israel from derailing negotiations, he argued, the U.S. must go beyond verbal assurances and pull back tangible capabilities it provides to the Israeli military.
“We actually have to start removing features of the military support that we give to them," he said. "We have to take away enough from them that they simply cannot go on the offense."
To ensure the ceasefire is successful we must first ensure that we restrain the Israelis. pic.twitter.com/lW2P6DV214
— Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) April 7, 2026
Kent contended that Israel's strategic goals are fundamentally at odds with a negotiated settlement. While the U.S. is seeking a swift end to the conflict, he said, Israel wants the Iranian government toppled entirely — making any American peace deal a threat to Israeli objectives.
"Israel could spoil any peace that President Trump is working to achieve," he warned. "We have to keep that in mind."
“There is no military solution to the conflict right now,” he said.
Kent’s comments came days after Trump delivered a nationally televised address on the war, saying the U.S. is "on track to complete all of America's military objectives shortly, very shortly." Trump said discussions with Iran are "ongoing" and that the U.S. holds "all the cards."
>> Iran war day 33: Trump, Iran’s president deliver dueling appeals to Americans <<
In an April 2 post on X, Kent accused Israel of working to prevent Trump’s goal of extracting the U.S. from the conflict.
"Israel is targeting the negotiators to ensure we can't end the war," Kent wrote, adding that "the 1st step to end the war must be restraining Israel."
The purpose of a system is what it does:
— Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) April 2, 2026
Israel is targeting the negotiators to ensure we can’t end the war & to ensure that the Iranian leaders who come next will be more extreme, thereby ensuring that the war goes on.
The 1st step to end the war must be restraining Israel. pic.twitter.com/61dyONwCy6
At least one White House official expressed sharp disagreement with Kent's position April 2. Spokesman Davis Ingle called Kent's statements "riddled with lies" in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
Kent has emerged as one of the more prominent internal critics of the war since his resignation. In his resignation statement, he wrote that Iran "posed no imminent threat to our nation" and that the war was started "due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."
>> US counterterrorism chief Joe Kent resigns over Iran war <<
Kent closed his April 7 video with an appeal for prayer.
"I continue to pray for peace,” he said. “Pray for President Trump. Pray for him to have clarity. Pray for successful peace negotiations. Pray for our men and women downrange in harm's way."