Trump, not the ‘woke’ right, remains in charge of US policy

The announcement that Col. Daniel Davis was tapped to be deputy director of national intelligence sent shockwaves through the pro-Israel community earlier this week. The post involves supervision of the President’s Daily Brief, a compendium of vital intelligence information that goes to the White House and senior figures throughout the government. That gives anyone in the job a singular ability to direct discourse and influence policy. And for it to go to Davis, whose hostility to Israel is a matter of long-standing record, seemed to indicate that—for want of a better term—the “woke right” was getting into position to wreck the alliance with the Jewish state.

The naming of Davis to this key post by Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, came right after President Donald Trump’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler let loose with some bizarre remarks about his direct contacts with Hamas. The combination of the two stories—coupled with worries about two appointees at the Department of Defense with troubling backgrounds, including antisemitic social-media posts and attacks on Israel—raised doubts about where the administration actually stood.