A former senior intelligence service official said on Tuesday that Marco Rubio's latest comments about the Iran war left him and other observers "speechless."
Rubio raised eyebrows with his comment on the Iran war, which largely pointed to Israel as the chief reason for the US involvement.
CNN's Alayna Treene reported this:
"Rubio speaking to reporters now says the 'imminent threat' the administration has referred to to justify US strikes on Iran was that they knew Israel was going to attack Tehran, and believed such an attack would prompt Iran to strike US bases and assets in the region."
Pod Save The World's Ben Rhodes shared Treene's reporting and replied, "America doesn't have to go to war just because Israel was going to go to war."
National security expert Danny (Dennis) Citrinowicz also chimed in, adding, "If there is a strategic risk greater than Iran itself for Israel, it is the perception that Israel pushed the United States into a discretionary and open-ended war. In the current American political environment, perception matters as much as operational reality."
"Israel’s standing among younger Americans, within significant parts of the Democratic Party, and even among segments of the Republican coalition, is already under strain," he added in response to comments by Rubio.
That led to ex-CIA senior official Marc Polymeropoulos to speak out. He said, "Rubio in his statement and the admin’s decision to toss this war all on Israel may have catastrophic effects on future American support for Israel."
The expert further added:
"I texted an Israeli friend right after Rubio’s presser and said just that-it’s a step away from essentially blaming Israel (which he did) to saying ‘blame the Jews.’ I was stunned at the abject stupidity of this tact from the admin and it left me speechless. All the anti semitic crazies feel validated now."
Rubio in his statement and the admin’s decision to toss this war all on Israel may hav catastrophic effects on future American support for Israel. Below analysis is spot on. I texted an Israeli friend right after Rubio’s presser and said just that-it’s a step away from… https://t.co/ul7WsAzYp4
— Marc Polymeropoulos (@Mpolymer) March 3, 2026