Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Thursday that the United States and Israel have been operating with distinct objectives in the war against Iran, even as both countries have coordinated closely on military actions.

Speaking before the House Intelligence Committee during its annual global threats hearing, Gabbard explained that Israel has concentrated on targeting Iran’s leadership, while President Trump has directed U.S. efforts toward dismantling Iran’s missile capabilities and naval forces.

“The objectives that have been laid out by the president are different from the objectives that have been laid out by the Israeli government,” Gabbard told the House intelligence committee’s annual hearing on worldwide threats to the United States.

“We can see through the operations that the Israeli government has been focused on disabling the Iranian leadership. The president has stated that his objectives are to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles launching capability, their ballistic missile production capability, and their navy,” she said.

Although officials in Washington and Jerusalem have repeatedly emphasized strong coordination in their joint air campaign, both sides have acknowledged that their strategic goals are not identical.

As the war approached its third week, Israeli operations have focused on eliminating senior Iranian clerics and military commanders, while U.S. strikes have primarily targeted infrastructure tied to Iran’s missile program.

The divergence became more apparent Wednesday night, when Trump wrote on social media that Washington “knew nothing” about Israel’s strike on the South Pars gas field in Iran. The attack prompted Iran to retaliate by targeting energy infrastructure in Qatar. Trump added that Israel would refrain from striking the gas field again unless Iran carried out further attacks against Qatar.

During the hearing, Gabbard said she could not explain Israel’s decision to target infrastructure that Trump had indicated should remain off-limits, after being pressed on the issue by Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from Texas.

Her testimony before the House followed a similar appearance the previous day before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where she joined CIA Director John Ratcliffe and other senior intelligence officials.

At both hearings, lawmakers repeatedly asked whether Iran posed an “imminent” threat to the United States at the time the joint U.S.-Israel air campaign began on Feb. 28.

The question gained added attention after Joe Kent, who had been leading the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned earlier in the week, becoming the first senior official in Trump’s administration to step down over the conflict. Kent said Iran did not present an imminent threat to the United States.

Gabbard maintained in both appearances that the determination of whether such a threat exists rests solely with the president, indicating that the final judgment lies with Trump.

{Matzav.com}